The Aftermath: After The Waker
by Malon Aniku
Summary: A Boulvidarrian rescues and is rescued by Link, Tetra, Makar, The Rito, and the pirates as the New Hylians discover a new world: The Mainland. The Master Sword is mysteriously stolen, and Link will stop at nothing to get it back.
1. Something Special at Great Bay

Hey Guys! This is my first fanfiction, and I, like those before me, hope you enjoy it. Don't judge it before you get too far. As in Miyamoto's great game, everything is not as it seems. It takes place after the Wind Waker, on that bland, dreary shore known as Great Bay. I am depressed, little knowing that that will soon change...  
  
It was early afternoon, and the veil of clouds that shadowed the wild sea had not yet disappeared from the horizon. My boots sunk into the damp, grey sand as I stared into space, my late mother's dog accompanying me. He was not as depressed as I was, for his tail was wagging a mile a minute, and every once in a while, he had a chat with the seagulls, growling and whimpering.  
  
"Daystar, I really can't see how you can be so happy. She's dead, you know." I was referring, of course, to my mother, whose death was the cause of my sadness: not that the dreary weather made things better. Daystar looked up at me and growled. I rolled my eyes and left him to his romping in the sand.  
  
I took off along the shore, not caring whether or not I got lost, or lived, or died. Life was a holy terror in my mind. Why live it, if it was simply a series of disappointments?  
  
How wrong I was!  
  
I climbed down some rocks, which were as grey as anything out here, and approached a series of tide pools, finding a small nook near the water to sit and fume. My resentment toward everything was astounding.  
  
After my mother died, my brother, Ramón began to be eaten away with grief as I had, but he learned that smoking could solve these terrors temporarily. My father had spent many an hour at the local bar, returning grumpy and unpredictable. My hatred was aimed toward the sea. My mother had been doing something completely decent, and the stormy anger of the waves smashed her dingy against a stone.  
  
Indignantly, I threw a stone at a tide pool. Satisfied with the splash, my concentration strayed, and I noticed a silhouette on the horizon.  
  
A sea monster.  
  
Its horned head and neck rose up just beyond the shore of another tide pool, and its gilded eyes focused on me sternly. Trembling, I drew one of my ivory pistols, which was loaded with silver bullets (meant for werewolves), aimed, and shot at it. It didn't die. It didn't roar with anger either. Huh? I thought.  
  
Summoning all my courage, I climbed to the ledge it rested on. "Hey, you!" I shouted. "You want a piece of me?" I was ten feet away from it, and it ignored me. I shortened that to two yards. "HEY, YOU!" I yelled again, followed with a bang from my gun.  
  
Nothing.  
  
I neared it. Its head stuck not from water, but from sand. One of its long, curved horns was broken in half, and it was at that moment I realized that I'd been baited like Briar Rabbit to the Tar Baby. The behemoth was carved from wood. I felt so stupid. The seagulls seemed to laugh at me as they dipped and soared.  
  
"Ahhh. Go suck a fish, or whatever you stupid birds do!" I grumbled, sinking to the ground. I spotted something stranger nearest the water. A broken mast, with tatters of dirtied sail... And the hull of a wrecked sailboat, painted the same bright scarlet as the sea monster's head. I realized that I had stumbled upon a shipwreck. The sea beast must've been the prow. Crawling on my hands and knees, I neared the broken hull, wondering if there was anything of value inside. The moment I poked my head in, I knew in my bones that I'd come across something special. At the time, though, I didn't feel that my bones were accurate.  
  
Right in the belly of the ship, there was a boy.  
  
And not your ordinary boy, either, at least not in Boulviddar. There was something in the way he lay so limply that reminded you of a marionette, a toy, with all the magic of potential. Little did I know that this surreal creature was the greatest treasure ever created. He was skinny, unlike the boys back in town, though clad in a green tunic so baggy, his true structure was uncertain. His hair, part of which obscured from view with a triangular green hat, was as yellow as straw, another contrast to the Boulviddarian black, and his face was delicate, yet angular. Poking from beneath that unkempt hair, he had two long, pointed ears.  
  
Stuff of fairy tales!!! Thought I, wide-eyed. And he wasn't dead either, by the looks of it. His chest rose and fell with labored breathing, and I cursed the sea for doing this to him. "Boy? Are you... all right?" I said gently, placing a hand on his chest. His tunic was damp, the cloth thick and woven. He groaned.  
  
I, being a student of potion-making, took my canteen of precious fresh water from my hip. My hat's brim was lined with various fishing hooks, and on each hook, a vial of a magical substance hung. I chose several of them and dumped them in my water, creating a revival potion that steamed your heart and simmered in your belly. Carefully, without spilling a drop, I snuck this through the ribs of the boat and up to his lips.  
  
It was at the moment he awakened that the sun peered through the clouds. 


	2. The Boy From Beyond

A/N: I continue this for my first few readers, in hopes that more will join in. I began formulating this story last year, when the Wind Waker was but a wistful dream. Now that I have beaten the game, I have new inspiration. To anyone who reads this right now, I thank you and hope you enjoy the next chapter. R&R! I had just awakened the boy in the wreck of the scarlet craft....  
  
"D-Din, whatta night...." He groaned, his vivid green- black eyes flickering like an emerald flame in a twilight breeze. His tongue caught a drop of potion at the back of his mouth. He seemed to like it.  
  
"Boy, by the way you looked, I was sure there wouldn't be another morning for you." I said, somewhat like the healer I was trained to be. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Seagull-feathers, nothing I haven't felt before." He smiled mildly. "Thanks, though. Could you tell me what island we're on?"  
  
"I-island? What're you talking about?" I said, puzzled. There wasn't an island for miles, or at least one I knew of.  
  
He looked particularly surprised. "We're not on an island? Oh, Din!"  
  
"Wha-"I began.  
  
"This is GREAT!" he laughed happily, sitting up rapidly- and hitting his head on the floor of his boat. "Owwww...."  
  
I, having a feeling that this would involve a long story, said: "Um... Before you get too excited..... What's your name?"  
  
"Oh...yeah. My name's Link." The boy replied, rubbing his noggin, though still generally cheerful for one who'd just gotten hurt. "And yours?"  
  
"Malon Aniku, but you can call me Anni- there's no 'e'."  
  
"All right." Said Link, getting to business. "Now, Anni, do you think you can move, so that I can get outta this joint?"  
  
"Oh, but of course!" I said, scooting rapidly to the side. He nodded his thanks and climbed out quite easily through the largest hole out of many in the hull of the ship, the one I'd been blocking. His being so thin most likely helped. He stood up, still somewhat wobbly, and examined the boat, which was probably his. A low whistle escaped his lips.  
  
Link frowned. "Looks like the King and I aren't going to sail again for a while." He eyed the grotesque figurehead and sighed fondly. One could tell that it had been a beautiful craft at one time, although I still didn't trust that figurehead. I could imagine all the miscellaneous pieces put together like a giant puzzle, the bright red contrasting with the blue of the Great Sea..... I shook my head. This boat was too proud and wonderful to sail again on those wretched waters that had silently smothered my mother, and nearly done the same to Link. I began to pace in front of him, watching every one of his curious movements. As he looked over the remains of his sailboat, his eyes seemed to cloud over and see something different than what I saw. He cleared his throat and turned toward me. "You seen any pirates around here?" He tried to make it sound casual, but it was the Sheikah blood running in my veins that told me there was something more to that simple question, something more to him.  
  
"What, are they chasing you?" I said, thinking it to be a clever guess. Link looked sort of shocked.  
  
"Well...Actually, they're my friends."  
  
I was so taken off guard by this answer, I could've easily ended this chapter.  
  
"It's a looonng story..." He said with half a shrug. "When I first met them, I couldn't trust them at all." He grinned sheepishly at some outlandish memory. "'Course, if you rescue one of them a couple times, they start liking you." It was like a guy giving out casual advice on girls.  
  
"I've read that they're drunken barbarians that mess around with girls and steal stuff they don't need." I wondered how a boy this pleasant and optimistic would be caught dead with that sort of folk.  
  
"Ahhhh....I know some pretty... eccentric pirates." Link said. "And Tetra, their captain, would probably be furious if something like that happened in her crew. As long as no one disagrees with Tetra, they're a pretty sweet pack of guys; they let my other friends ride in their ship when we were traveling...Din, I hope they're all right...."  
  
"They were caught up in that storm, too? I don't think I have enough revival potions to deal with all of them... How many, did you say?" I didn't think I'd like to be Miss Paramedic all day.  
  
"You don't have to do that." He said. One could tell, he was really grateful for my help, and didn't expect me to do much more. He paused for a moment. "As for numbers, there's.... seven pirates, including Tetra, two Rito, and one Korok..... That's ten right there..."  
  
I was about to ask him what Rito and Koroks were when I heard voices. Link obviously heard them, too, and I followed his gaze to the sky, where the clouds were beginning to scatter.  
  
Two dark figures circled like vultures above. Those weren't seagulls, either. 


	3. Those To Fly, and Those To Fiddle

A/N: Thank you, guys! I realize that I haven't described myself yet! It's sort of hard to work in, but I've thought about it and found something that might work. Me, being somewhat of an aspiring author, can use all the help I can get, and if you have any suggestions or comments (especially comments), you know what to do. My chapters are (generally) getting longer, you may have realized. I am working a bit past my curfew to get each episode done (I am Link's age), and I like getting each one on the site as soon as possible for any curious readers (you know who you are).~ Those dark silhouettes loomed on patient wings above us, yet it was their voices that revealed their true nature...  
  
High above, faint like a breath of the cool sea breeze, a voice, sweet and modest and mild came in direction to her partner. "Oh, Prince Komali, please stop messing around!" She had an accent, the likes of which I'd never heard before. It was somewhat like an English one, with traces of something yet to be named, and it had a calming affect on me, though I stood in terror beneath her. "We've GOT to find the others, just got to!"  
  
"Ahhh, you're just as an attendant should be, I suppose, but we shouldn't worry. The wind is steady beneath our wings, and you know how tough everyone is." The Prince's voice had a slight lisp.  
  
I eyed Link for a moment. He took a glance at me, and then shouted toward the near-blue sky: "Hoy! Komali, Medli! We're down here!" Both creatures angled their beaks down at us.  
  
"Oh, thank Din! Link!" The one supposedly called Medli said with gentle relief. They circled down, not as graceful as most birds one could name, but they were overjoyed, and sometimes that's the only thing that matters.  
  
Medli landed first, stumbling in her hurry, and before I could comprehend her appearance, had run up to Link and hugged him around the neck. Sienna feathers striped with white floated everywhere like a bizarre fall of snow. When I looked at Link, I couldn't help but laugh. The bird- girl's wings created a sort of soft halo around his face, and he, seeing me watching so forlornly at the side, laughed a bit himself. From what I saw of the girl's back, her feathery arms were the only abnormality. She donned a very simple blue-grey dress with boots that gave an innuendo of bird's feet, wore a waist-long mahogany ponytail, and carried a breathtakingly beautiful gilded harp on her back, polished so well that I could see myself in it as if my image was embedded in the metal.  
  
I didn't think I looked half bad for your normal Boulviddarian girl: my cheekbones were high, my complexion somewhat dark, and my eyes a deep chocolate brown. My black hair cascaded over my shoulders, and I wore the cowboy hat with the fishing lures hung from it: the one left behind when Mother died. I was beginning to get a figure, which was saying something at my school, though no one had ever showed any interest in me. My aunt Siagon told me it was because most guys aren't that fond of intelligent women. My clothing was mismatched; a rather revealing parti-colored peasant top (I wore a striped shirt under it so I wouldn't be as uncomfortable) and a pair of baggy, patched jeans. My scarlet boots were scuffed, and one ebony bracelet hung from each of my slender wrists.  
"Medli? Could you leggo already? You're tickling my nose." Link said, trying not to sneeze. She giggled in her lovely modest sort of way, unhooked her arms, and backed away. Her smock, stamped with rust colored symbols, danced on the wind.  
  
"I'm sorry, Link. I was just so worried! I just wouldn't know what I would do if you... if you..." She trailed off, and noticed me standing there. Her feathers seemed to vanish in an instant as she looked me over. The Prince landed much more gracefully beside her, and his plumage did the same.  
  
"Medli, this is Anni. If it weren't for her, I'd have gone belly-up ages ago." He said, gesturing towards me and gave me that plucky kind of smile of his.  
  
"Oh, Link. I'm sure you would've come to on your own."  
  
"Oh, please accept our gratitude." Said Medli, bowing her head humbly, oblivious to what I'd just said. She looked up and curtseyed. "My name is Medli, and I'm much honored to meet you, especially after what you did for Link." The fact that both she and the Prince had hawk-orange eyes and beaks instead of noses made me somewhat uncomfortable, yet they were so polite it seemed wrong to stare. They also had the same pointed ears as Link. "This is Prince Komali, the one to which I am a most humble attendant."  
  
"We Rito are much obliged." nodded Komali with great dignity. He was very believably a prince, garbed in a red robe and various gilded pieces, wearing those strange boots that reminded one of bird's feet. A long sword in a scabbard was tied to his waist, and he wore a leather pouch across his left shoulder. Something inside the pouch squealed eerily, making me jump. "Oh," He laughed, untying the bag. "This is Makar, the Korok. Surely he wishes to thank you, too. " He lifted out a little green handful of a being that resembled something like a short sapling wearing a mask made from a leaf. It was the size of your normal teddy bear, and I must say, just as cute.  
  
"It's about time you let me out of there! I can't believe Link's all right if all I see is darkness!" It squeaked. It glanced at Link, then, with a smile on its voice (its face was obscured if it had one) said. "Well, these two haven't left me much to say, but thank you very much. I'd play you something on my fiddle, but..." Makar and Medli exchanged an awkward look.  
  
"What?" Link inquired, frowning a bit for the first time.  
  
"Well... The weather hasn't been kind to our instruments." Murmured Medli. "My harp is all out of tune."  
  
"And she can't tune it on my violin because...because- Just look at it!" Makar pulled a leafy-looking fiddle from thin air and bowed it twice. A deranged sound was omitted from it and the Korok cringed as one of the strings snapped. "Second one this morning." Moaned the creature, shaking what you could call its head.  
  
"Well, it's the thought that counts." I smiled. "I'm sure your fiddling would sound wonderful, Makar, honest. ... I think there's an instrument supply shop back in town: we could get it looked at. And Medli, you could tune your harp off of our piano." They all grinned.  
  
"Oh, how thoughtful! You'd really let me?" The Rito girl said in delight.  
  
"Perhaps you really are a life-saver." squealed Makar eagerly.  
  
Link beamed as if I'd done something right and said, somewhat regretfully: "I don't mean to burst our bubble or anything, but how about Tetra and the pirates?" They all exchanged glances. "Komali, did you see anything from the air?" Komali suddenly smiled.  
  
"Oh yes, Link. Did you realize we've hit the Mainland?" The Prince's tone was triumphant and excited, just as Link's had been when I'd mentioned it. "We've finally done it!"  
  
"I told him." I said. Komali nodded slowly like he'd expected me to. I was about to ask them why this was such a big deal when Makar interrupted.  
  
"Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?" Makar grumbled. "Just leave me out because I'm the little guy in the bag. Hmmph."  
  
"Apologies, Makar." Link, Medli and Komali chorused.  
  
"Sorry, but why are you so glad you landed here?" I asked, taking my opportunity to speak before they got into deep conversation again and left me out.  
  
"I should be sorry. We're just chatting on, and you haven't a clue what about. " Link shook his head apologetically. "Y'see, we're all islanders from the Great Sea, and we've been searching for someplace with more land for a mighty long time; so we could maybe start a settlement or something." He paused and shrugged. "I, myself am from Outset Island. Palm trees, seagulls, plenty of leisure time." He sighed as he sank into the bliss of his own memories, which I decided he often did.  
  
"Komali and I are from Dragon Roost, where he rules below his father and I attend to both he and the Great Valoo." Medli added. "The whole of it is the post office of the known Great Sea."  
  
"B-e-a-utiful place." Murmured Link thoughtfully, half to himself, half to me. "Always warm, perfect zephyr comin' through there. Worth visiting once or twice."  
  
"I suspect you've never received a letter from a Rito, though. This is much too far north." Komali said, attempting businesslike behavior, though he was really fighting off the flattery he'd received from Link.  
  
"How about you, Makar?" I took the liberty of asking. "What island are you from?" Not that I had any idea where any of these places were, but I was as interested as anyone.  
  
"Forest Haven, home of the Deku Tree." It squealed. "Everywhere you look, there's green."  
  
"And every once in a while, a man-eating Boko Baba." Link grinned. "'Course, we fixed that, didn't we, Makar?"  
  
"Err... yeah." The Korok blushed greenish-pink.  
  
"Had to go in and save him." Link continued, with only a slight bit of pride. "Little guy got himself swallowed up by a giant... thing called Kalle Demos." The Korok seemed embarrassed by this memory.  
  
"Well, I made up for it, didn't I?" the Korok added quickly.  
  
"Yeah." shrugged the Outset islander, blowing his yellow bangs out of his eyes. "You rescue me, I rescue you. Been going like that since the beginning of time, I guess."  
  
"Speaking of 'time'," A female voice said, filled with sass and savvy. "Why's everyone just standing around wasting it? Sheesh..."  
  
We all looked up toward the hills, where a girl stood with fierce ice-blue eyes and lips curled into a sly grin. Six men of different size and stature stood around her. They could've been none other than the infamous Tetra and her pirates. 


	4. Urgent Problems

A/N: I dunno if there is much left to say, but I suppose you're on this site to read the stories, not the Author's Notes! Thanks again to anyone reading: I am obliged for your support. Well, enjoy my next chapter. If you like corny stuff, Tetra and the gang'll begin to spice things up. As always, read and review, yada, yada, yada. ~Tetra and the pirates sort of butt into our conversation, and not a moment too soon...  
  
"Hoy, Tetra! Where've you been?" Link greeted her cheerily, waving at that strange group on the horizon. She rolled her eyes and tossed her head, blowing one of her lightning-bolt shaped ear tails off her cheek and, beckoning toward the men behind her to follow, sauntered toward us in her superior sort of way. They trailed behind her like baby cuccos following their mother. "She's only like that when she's mad." He growled under his breath at me. I nodded.  
  
"Where've I been? Where've you been? I didn't hear about any rendezvous! And who in the Great Sea is she?" Tetra burst out the moment she reached us. You could tell she was the captain of a ship; her skill at maintaining order was impeccable. Her pirates stood forlornly at the side, staring at me with a mixture of curiosity and apologetics. One of the taller ones, dressed in green and maroon, was mouthing something like 'She's never like this, yeah?' and nodding vigorously.  
  
"Well, sorry. We weren't sure you were even alive and-"Link began.  
  
"Well, boy, I'm not around here to listen to your pity stories." Surprisingly, she grinned, and Link returned it. Then they began to laugh. I must've looked very confused, and Medli touched me gently on the arm. I turned.  
  
"They're always like that. It's quite crazy, really. " She said, smiling sheepishly and shaking her head. "I suppose you get used to it after a while, though." After a moment or two, the captain managed to maintain a straight face.  
  
"Now honestly, who is she?" She said, quite serious now.  
  
"Seagull-feathers, Tetra, she can talk." He tucked his thumbs under his belt and said no more.  
  
"Um... Hi." I waved nervously. I had never thought I'd meet a pirate, much less a female captain who had as much of a sense of humor as she did order. Would a buccaneer appreciate etiquette? "You can call me Anni, I suppose."  
  
"Hi, Anni!" Chorused the six pirates behind Tetra with good cheer, waving their callused and scarred hands. She turned to glare at them, and her violet vest flapped in the breeze. She was very flashily dressed, her yellow hair tied in an artistic, if somewhat sloppily done bun slightly to the left side of her head. A tattered scarlet bandanna was tied loosely around her thin neck, and under her vest she wore two shirts: one a short, sleeveless pastel purple, and the other the same red of her neckerchief, worn under the former. Her pants were khakis, which I found particularly attractive. A short saber rested in a scabbard at her waist, and her feet were clad in simple sandals. She had no signs of a figure, but her complexion was pleasantly bronzed, and no appearances could ever make up for the strength of her personality.  
  
"Well, nice to meet'cha, Anni." She said, though she still looked annoyed by her pirates. "You may call me Tetra. Now, why are you hanging around here acting so nice? Where's your prejudice, for Din's sake?" I noticed her eyes were on my ears, which were as round as seashells compared to her pointed.  
  
"Oh, please, Tetra, she's fine." Medli said, and I was surprised she came to my defense so rapidly. "This is the Mainland, and we mayn't find another character as charitable as her for a while."  
  
Her eyes lightened up considerably. "So they're not all like you on this Mainland, eh?" I shrugged.  
  
"I'm not the best, and I'm not the worst." I answered coolly. Tetra smiled, obviously liking my answer. She nodded to herself.  
  
"So, what'd she do that's so 'charitable'?" Tetra inquired, scanning Medli, Makar, Komali and Link- and double -taking when she got to Link. Her brow furrowed.  
  
"Well, she offered to help us fix our instruments." Makar said, showing her the ugly remains of his fiddle.  
  
"And, supposedly, she rescued Link." Komali added. Tetra didn't take her eyes off the Outset Islander, but she nodded with a satisfied smile.  
  
"Hmm... Medli, Makar? I'm afraid those instruments won't be of much use to you, even if they are repaired." She grinned slyly, and if I'd known her better, I would've known that that meant she had some bad news for the lot of us. She set her arms akimbo. "Link, first time I set eyes on you I knew something was wrong..." Tetra closed her eyes and shook her head. "Would you look over your left shoulder for me?" Link did so, and so did several of the pirates.  
  
I followed Tetra's glance and found something I'd never noticed about Link before. There was a dully painted, ornate shield strapped to his back, and behind it was an equally elaborate scabbard, one, it seemed, for a very splendid sword. But the sword was absent.  
  
I was surrounded by gasps.  
  
"He can't have lost it, certainly not the Master Sword!"  
  
"D'you think it was washed away by the sea?"  
  
"Well, there goes all my importance to this group; what's a fiddling Korok to do on his own?"  
  
And as I stared at that empty sheath, my heart leaped; my Sheikah blood took control and somehow I felt connected to these people in one way or another, though I'd met them but a moment ago.  
  
"It.... wasn't washed away...." I murmured. Everyone grew silent. "It... was...was STOLEN!"  
  
"By what, exactly?" asked Link, in a tone wavering with fear, though his brow was furrowed and it seemed he'd overcome any danger to retrieve this blade. Isn't that what true courage is; readily doing things beyond frightening against one's own fear for all things just and true? He trusted my strange gift; though whether or not he was sure of its accuracy, I don't know.  
  
"I... I don't know...." I bowed my head and concentrated with my entire mind, but all I saw was darkness... and two spots of deep scarlet. "...My great aunt Siagon could tell you, I think."  
  
"Where does you're aunt live, exactly?" Medli asked in a tone as soft as the coo of a dove.  
  
"It's further inland, in the back of a restaurant and inn called The Spilled Goblet."  
  
"Hmm..." grunted Tetra. "Whaddya say, boys? Surely we could spare some of our... precious time... to speak to this life-saving girl's aunt?" She winked, and her pirates all nodded vigorously. The captain nodded in her accepting sort of way. Link rolled his eyes, but he smiled softly. "Anni, that's the thing you got to know about the pirates." He said. "Their so-called 'work' may be all fun and games, but in the end, it's only their stomachs that count." He laughed. "'Course, I have problems in that particular area too, occasionally."  
  
"How occasionally? Every hour?" chortled one of Tetra's men, a mouse-like midget with a somewhat comical squeaky voice (it sounded to a certain extent as if someone was holding his nose). The tips of the green-clad islander's ears and nose went pink and he, fairly embarrassed, snapped: "Niko, I'm going to pretend I never heard that." Niko continued to laugh.  
  
"Well, gee, guys. If you're really into food, we can sure arrange that, too." I shrugged. "And I like you, so we just might be able to make that free." On that last thought, I couldn't help but put a mocking sort of tone in my voice.  
  
"We're completely fine with that." Tetra said, attempting to suppress one of her sly smiles. I found I was beginning to get used to her strange ways. The others only shrugged and nodded politely, though Link looked exceptionally surprised and delighted by this offer.  
  
"How do we get to this place, The Spilled Goblet?" Medli asked. "I don't mean to be rude, but my wings are dead tired, and I don't usually get far on foot."  
  
"I got it covered." I smiled, pulling a harmonica from my pocket. "You guys ever ride before?"  
  
"Ride what?" Makar inquired, obviously afraid that what ever it was would be eager to eat him. I was somewhat shocked. Surely they knew that the term 'riding' was generally associated with horses! Then again, maybe they didn't have horses out on the Great Sea. What an absurd thought!  
  
"Ponies. Do they have horses where you come from?" I asked.  
  
"No, but heard something about them once." Said Link pausing momentarily. "Aren't they those enormous animals that have long velvety snouts? I've never even set eyes on a drawing of one...."  
  
"Hmmm... Why don't you wait and see?" With that, I set my lips onto the sweet pine wood and metal of the harmonica and blew three notes. That particular note pattern had, by tradition, been used at my auntie's ranch since the first recorded Aniku ancestor composed it. It stirred something inside the horses and made them come running, no matter how far away they were. The ground began to shake, and the others behind me seemed somewhat panicked, yet I, however, stood tall and grinned as exactly twenty-nine ponies of various colors spilled into our valley of land in the tide pools. They circled around us, stopping a comfortable distance away. Several came into the ring for a closer look.  
  
"Not how I pictured them!" laughed Link as a cream-colored one (the one I called Swiss) nosed him on the shoulder. "I think they're better."  
  
"Wow, they ARE big." Komali and Makar marveled.  
  
"They're so... beautiful. So sleek and free." Medli gasped. I looked over the herd and frowned.  
  
"What's the matter, Anni?" Tetra asked, raising her hand to grace the side of a grey horse I labeled Risky.  
  
"One's missing." I said. I wasn't worried about Daystar. He'd probably left for The Spilled Goblet already. I inspected the horses and sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't wait for her... She's rouge, I tell you."  
  
"But these aren't all yours, are they? Do you have the right to do that?" She said, giggling as Risky licked her hand. She had a point...  
  
"All right, but if she comes barging in here, dodge her. You don't want a hoof in your face." Speak of the devil. A whinny broke the horizon, and a bronze bay mare leapt into view. Her ears were laid back, and she kicked at the air as if there was something there, foam coming at her mouth. "Umm... See? She's crazy. Refused to be broken properly. At our rodeos, the record of staying on her is around .30." A low whistle escaped Tetra's lips. Link stared at her, a strange look in his eyes. His brow was furrowed.  
  
"What's her name?" He asked simply, speaking as if he were in a trance.  
  
"Her name? She's known to her victims as Wildfire." I scowled, watching the loony steed rear.  
  
"No, her real name." I wondered how he knew she had a 'real name'.  
  
"She was named after one of the best horses in the ranch's history, her ancestor mother from hundreds of years back... She turned out to be quite the opposite, as you can see." Not many people knew Wildfire's true name. "Her name... Her true name's Epona."  
  
Something seemed to snap in Link's mind, and he said, somewhat surprised in himself. "Well, I'm going to take her." 


	5. Rouges

A/N: Hey guys! So continues this fanfiction. Anyone reading, in my eyes, deserves chocolate (or, if you're allergic to that.cash)! You can't imagine how much I enjoy reading your reviews, so keep sending your support. I never knew that my character, which is comprised of my realities and fantasies, would be praised by anyone in this form of writing. If you like what you see here still, I suggest you put me on Author Alert, because I like to get my chapters up quite quickly (we all know now, Dan). Thanks again. ~ What is Link thinking, saying he's going to ride that rouge mare?  
  
"Um. Link, I know you've done some stupid things before, and lived to tell the tale, but. I seriously don't think this is going to turn out the way you think it will." Tetra said, her blue eyes wide in disbelief. "I mean, I know I've said something like this before, but that's not brave! That's -that's.sort of deranged!"  
  
Link turned to glance at the pirate. "Seagull-feathers, maybe I am sort of crazy." He smiled, closed his eyes, and nodded. Then, very confident and stretched to his full height (about four inches below my eye level), he strode toward the wayward Wildfire- or should I call her Epona?  
  
The mare snorted, and for a moment, she wasn't just a crazy animal, but an awful demon, able to blow steam from her wide nostrils, and capable of crushing stones to sand beneath her diamond-hard hooves. But Link didn't so much as tremble, though I noticed he was walking on his tiptoes. She flattened her ears at him, and when he got in range, reared and jabbed her hooves, aiming at his chest. He ducked, and sidestepped her, with so much deft, it was evident he'd done something like this before. She was enraged, and galloped in a half-circle, this time to kick at him with her powerful rear legs, and Link evaded, rolled as a small green ball on the ground to the side and jumped. Epona looked indeed quite confused as he came down, her back breaking his fall. She was stunned for a mere split second, and in that time, Link adjusted his position on her copper, saddle-less back, leaned forward, and held on for dear life. She arched her back and went haywire, bucking and twirling; he winced, yet he wasn't thrown off.  
  
"Hmm. That seems a fraction longer than .30." Said Tetra, obviously quite impressed.  
  
"Too bad it's not a real competition." I said, my eyes wide and focused on the unbelievable struggle before me. Sweat began to darken the mare's coat. Maybe it actually was a sort of competition, I thought. Epona was not fond of the fact she was to be beaten at her own game, and played every trick she knew, much to her own disappointment. Link's arms were wrapped tightly around her neck, half his face pressed determinedly into her firm flesh, and his boots digging into her ribs. Moments later, she slowed down, defeated. Link very cautiously sat up straighter, not quite sure she was truly tamed yet, and that was good, because that horse never really got to be docile at all. She couldn't believe she'd been overpowered, and swung back her head suddenly to give him a nip on the tip of the ear.  
  
"Owwww! What in Din's name did you do that for?" he growled, rubbing his ear, although there was a grin on his face warm enough to melt butter.  
  
"She's a sore loser, I guess." I said, stunned from disbelief.  
  
"Well, I said I was going to ride her, and I'm going to ride her." He said, satisfied. He swung his boots a few times, and Epona puffed several times to catch her breath. "That is, when I learn to ride."  
  
I shook off any shock I may have still had. "Yeah, I suppose you all should. You guys, pick a pony. Link's already got his." I lay a hand on poor old Swiss, who had been particularly fond of Link, and vaulted my way up. Tetra immediately took Risky, who stood in her domestic way beside her.  
  
"So you just sort of climb on?" She asked, both her hands ready across Risky's withers.  
  
"Yeah. Just do it as quick as possible. Wouldn't wanna hurt her back. And Medli, since you have that dress on, you should sit sideways." I shifted on Swiss's back and showed her. Tetra nodded, and soon was sitting casually on her steed, while the Rito had picked the two twin horses of the herd, the greyish-brown Flax for Komali (and Makar, who resided once more in the bag), and the brownish-grey Feather for his attendant. The miscellaneous other buccaneers only took up three horses, since the three midget pirates were forced to ride with the gargantuan ones (they were too short to climb up). When everyone was seated and ready, I began my instruction.  
  
"It's really quite easy." I began, walking Swiss between the various riders and free horses. Most of the horses knew their way home again, anyway. "To get 'em to walk, you lean towards their withers. If you want her to go faster, you should give your horse a kick- it doesn't hurt them- in the sides, rapidly. Medli, you can't kick both sides at once, so just touch ol' Feather on the neck. She's a bright one." Medli nodded, and she happily stroked Feather's mane with a delicate pale hand. "To turn, you apply your weight either left or right, depending on where you want to go. Is everyone ready?" Epona reared, and Link sheepishly grabbed her around the neck.  
  
"Uh. I think Epona is." He said, and we all laughed, still uneasy about letting him take the rouge.  
  
"Well, does my horse have a name?" Tetra said, raising one of her hands while looking down at the other. "I mean, I might have to know that at some point if I'm riding her." I smiled and told her quite plainly that the dappled-grey mare was called Risky, though she wasn't quite a risk to ride.  
  
"Okay, guys, I'll take up the back, but you can go ahead. The horse'll take you there somewhat. " I assured everyone, and they nodded. Tetra, shifting her weight experimentally on her horse, figured out how to follow me to the back of the herd, and I was curious why, though I said nothing as I raced Swiss in and out of the un-ridden ponies yelling for them to move. "YA! Giddy-up, scoundrels!" The thumping of over a hundred hooves satisfied me somewhat, the breeze (which was much warmer than this morning's) lifting each horse's mane and tail like banners of grey and white and black and orange. I willed Swiss to canter free, without a clunky saddle or chafing bridle to restrain her; this was the first time I'd done this in the company of those I considered friends. "So, Tetra," I began, having to shout over the whinnies and hoof-beats of the herd, and the roar of the waves in the wide, now not so horrible sea. "Why are you back here?" She smiled across the four-foot void of blurred sand and sea grasses that separated us.  
  
"Well, I have no idea where we're going, and you do, first off." She laughed, giving Risky a kick to keep up with me, gently for the sake of her near-bare toes. "Link and them don't seem to think before they do things, y'know? And secondly, why do you need to be back here all alone?" I smiled back at her. She was too, well, divine to be a pirate, or at least all pirate.  
  
"I-I appreciate it."  
  
"Bah. Don't mention it." She gave me her trademark wink and faced forward.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
We rode without much more conversation due north, where the land suddenly gave open to foothills and forest, and the horses grew eager with the thought of home. Swiss whinnied and dropped down to a trot, as did Risky beside me.  
  
"So, how much farther do we have to go?" The pirate captain sighed, somewhat bored with the prospect of riding now. "My legs ache."  
  
I pulled the brim of my hat down slightly, the fishing lures with the bottles swinging out of the corner of my eye. "Well, you see that hill up there?"  
  
"The one covered with trees? Yes."  
  
"Well, we go over that, and then west a ways." I said, wiping the sweat off of my neck. The sun was just to our above- left and had nary a cloud to block it. "Should be just less than an hour."  
  
"Hummph. Hey! Why don't we just head north-west? Nothing stopping us but a few trees." She was, indeed crafty, but it was perhaps her hunger or excitement that made her seem doubly so.  
  
"Well, yeah. But that part of the woods is dangerous, or so they tell me. And a pack of horses can't exactly pass through with much stealth."  
  
"Din, Nayru, Farore." She cursed, folding her forearms across her chest. Then her eyes got that sly look in them, and she gave me another wink. She kicked Risky in the ribs and had her veer off course to the northwest.  
  
"What the- Tetra!?!" I yelled, and reluctantly turned to follow her. Swiss didn't like the fact that she had to canter again, and snorted at me, but I kept her going. Risky was fast though, and I could do no more but keep her just in sight. I stopped my horse and sighed, feeling her panting between my legs as I watched Tetra disappear into the forest.  
  
"What in the name of seagull-feathers is she doing?" I glanced to my right, and there, right beside me stood Epona, her bronze fur glistening with sweat and her muscles ripping beneath it. She tossed her head and snorted. Link shadowed his eyes and squinted at the horizon.  
  
"I told her it was a shortcut, and she decided to take it. But there are rumors that that forest isn't safe." I explained.  
  
"And she calls me dumb." He shook his head. "She probably got bored. She does a bit too easily."  
  
"Well, are you bored?" I asked.  
  
"Naw! Horseback riding's a lot bumpier than sailing; it's kind of interesting." He grinned, looking at me. He glanced back at the forest ahead and furrowed his brow. "I suppose we have to follow her."  
  
"But the Rito; and the pirates? Will they be all right?" I inquired. If they were to get lost it would be almost all my fault.  
  
"Medli fell asleep because those pirates were singing like drunkards, and Feather just kept going, nice and smooth. The horses seem to know the way." He assured me. Before I could protest, Epona galloped ahead, so I shrugged and followed, not as closely as I would've liked, for when the canopy of leaves spread above us and shaded everything, all I saw of his existence was Epona's ivory- colored tail. We both slowed back to a walk, and silence was dominant there; the only thing breaking it was the soft leaves under the horses' feet.  
  
And then a scream echoed through the brush. 


	6. On Fears and Unavoidable Dislikes

Hoy! I'm sorry it's taken so long. I had some projects on Ancient Rome due at school, so don't be surprised if I seem out of practice. There may very possibly be a short song in this chapter, three lines of which are deprived from Monty Harper's (I know you don't know him) "Tropeo the Pirate". Yes, I know it's a little, say, crazy; that's somewhat the point, but it's proper to acknowledge the artist no matter what. If you read "Jing, King of Bandits (#2)", you might find one of these scenes similar-to a certain extent; I was a bit inspired by it. Thank you anyone reading, because writing for you is divine. ~ A shiver echoed down my spine as a cry for help echoed through the woods. Tetra?  
  
"It's her." Link said urgently, kicking Epona's sides. Swiss had calmed down somewhat, and I took the freedom of riding up beside him, though Epona ran slightly faster than a normal gallop should be, sensing the seriousness of the air.  
  
"How do you know?" I said, looking at him, though he was more interested in what was in front of him.  
  
"I reckon I've heard her yell a couple of times." He answered, leaning forward. I wondered why it seemed he'd rescued practically the whole crew he traveled with, but I didn't dare ask, not at a time like this. We raced through the woods, which grew darker and darker, and then into a clearing of blinding light. A horse screamed- Risky- and galloped off. Link and I stopped abruptly, and Epona reared, not because she was joking around, but because she was scared.  
  
Towering before us, casting shadows on poor Tetra, who cringed against one of the trees, hunched some sort of enormous purple–and-green- scaled crocodile monster; it heard the horse hooves and swiveled its gargantuan head, immediately losing interest in the pirate.  
  
"Wow, Link. You're two seconds early, and that's saying something for you." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I expected you to come after the stupid thing slobbered all over me. I could get used to this." Swiss backed me cautiously back into the forest, and I jumped off to drag Tetra back into the brush. She fought me for a second, and then realized she'd be better off back there with me. Link had taken a bow from his shirt and nocked an arrow in it, Epona dancing beneath him to avoid the slashing tail. "Idiot." Tetra yelled out. "Don't waste all your arrows! My sword's stuck in that tree over there." She lowered her voice and whispered. "He's better with swords; 'course he doesn't seem to know it. I don't know why I threw the thing though..." Link sighed, lowered his bow, and got Epona to absently dodge the beast's equally careless attacks as he strode her toward the tree Tetra spoke of. He glared at the beast, and in one swift movement, yanked the saber from the tree's trunk and leapt off of his horse. The crocodile seemed amused, and from the look in its yellow eyes it seemed to be thinking: 'He's gotten off his horse! Now he'll be much easier to catch!'  
  
It snapped its jaws at him; they were wide and enormous, certainly enough to swallow a boy of Link's size and stature in one gulp, yet Link had no intention of being eaten, and dodged it by jumping deftly to the side. He shifted Tetra's blade to his left hand, and waited for it to attack him again, standing on his tiptoes as he had when he'd dealt with Epona. It did so quite eagerly, but also quite blindly, and Link launched a series of rapid sword- slashes. It would've been lethal even if he had used a butter knife instead of Tetra's blade; the creature roared in pain and howled like a cowardly dog, miscellaneous cuts all over its snout and maw. Link smirked and stomped on the hook-like tip of the crocodile's tail, and it whined and scuttled off into the brush, its belly scraping noisily against the gritty dirt. "Ha! I've never fought something so cowardly!" He laughed, trying for a moment to shove the curved pirate saber into his sheath- realizing then it was not going to fit. He sighed.  
  
"Ganondorf would crack up if he saw that thing, and that's saying something." Tetra shook her head, stood up, and dusted off the back of her khakis. "Now, give me that sword. From the way you're using it, you might hurt yourself." Link looked her in the eye innocently.  
  
"Why don't you come get it?" He waved it teasingly in the air.  
  
"I hate you."  
  
She stepped forward, looked casually to the side, then pounced upon him, forcing him to the ground, yet he still held it out of reach. Both began laughing madly, and one could've heard them over a pack of barking dogs. Epona nosed me on the shoulder. I stroked her muzzle absently. "It's okay, Epona. We'll be all right even if they aren't."  
  
Soon, Tetra had grabbed the hilt of the saber, but Link wouldn't let go. "Tet- Tetra? TETRA, would you quit it?" He stared, wide-eyed at a spot in the brush. "I should've known. There's never just one..."  
  
Tetra followed his glance into the woods. "You don't mean-" The bushes rustled and three crocodiles of the same variety as the first, if slightly smaller, slunk in malicious curves about the two of them. "Um... I'll take that." While Link was distracted, she yanked the blade from his hand and stood. He jumped up rapidly beside her.  
  
"Hey, what gives?" He complained, half eyeing her and half eyeing the pygmy beasts.  
  
"Didn't your grandma teach you to share? I'll give it back; besides, don't you have a boomerang or something you can use?"  
  
"Um, yeah. I guess so..." He pulled the boomerang, a yellow curve of blade, from his shirt and held it ready behind his head. I'd never seen anyone throw one of those right, much less done so myself, so it shocked me when he threw it and hit one of the gators squarely in the head. This only enraged it, and it dashed, snarling and open-mouthed at him. He laughed sheepishly and ducked so low he was nearly on his belly. The beast first ran over him, and then tried to snap at him, but its snout was so long that its head could not be lowered far enough. It was too stupid to figure this out, however, and continued to do so without a hint of frustration, turning its great ugly head at many different angles. Though Link was in a perfect position to kill the creature, underneath its vulnerable paunch as he was, there was too little space between the monster's hide and the ground to launch an arrow properly- a bit less than two feet.  
  
Meanwhile, Tetra, who'd had the advantage of her sword and needless to say, craftiness, had used a rather more strategic method, using the tree trunks to her benefit as she was evading her crocodile. It would snap indignantly at her, and she would jump against a tree and ricochet herself in any direction she wished, depending on what angle her foot landed. She was rather slower with the sword than Link, but she managed. As you can imagine, she disposed of the behemoth quite quickly. There wasn't much blood, as evil things rarely have enough heart to manipulate such stuff, but she wiped off the sword anyway and turned to hand it to Link. "In quite a pickle, aren't you?" She teased, but he only rolled his eyes and moved his hand out of the reach of the alligator's jaws. "You're lucky that that thing's so stupid. The way you're faring, you'd be down the hatch by now."  
  
"Well, Din, Tetra. I've figured that out by now." He groaned. "Would you just give me it already?" He was somewhat urgent about it this time, for it was quite evident that his creature was catching on. It backed up several steps and tried again, and this time its teeth brushed against the toes of his boots. The dunce of a thing never so much as noticed Tetra. She shrugged and threw the sword at him, and he had to suck in his chest so as not to be hit by it. "THANK you." He grabbed the hilt, swung it up into the monster's belly and killed it instantly. He took his place beside Tetra, handed her back the blade, and stood in silence for a moment.  
  
"....Hey." Tetra said after a while. "Wasn't there three of those things?"  
  
This rather shocked me then. There was a rustling sound behind the horses and I, and the third gator emerged. Swiss screamed and ran to Link's side; she'd seen him use a sword and was sure she would be quite safe. Epona, however, reared and began kicking at it in her crazed sort of way. Trembling, I raised one of my ivory werewolf-hunting guns- it was hard to aim with Epona jumping back and forth in front of me- blinked my right eye, and let fly a bullet with a loud bang. The creature fell. Tetra let out a low whistle and Link just stared.  
  
"When we meet up with the group, you'll have to show those things to Senza. He's into that stuff, y'know? Runs the ballast on my ship," she said, nothing short of impressed. "He's in charge of the catapult sometimes, too." I saw Link cringe.  
  
"He's not that good of an aim, though," he said hastily, obviously wanting to end this conversation quickly. She gave him a sly grin accompanied with a wink, and he shivered and stepped backward.  
  
"He's had... some... bad experiences around that thing. Haven't you, Link?"  
  
"Yeah, you're telling me. Remember that day I met you, and they were shooting it like heck at that giant bird?" He smiled sheepishly.  
  
"Um.... It was on the same day.... It's okay. You can tell her on your own. Wouldn't want to embarrass you." She still had her wily smile on her face, and Link swallowed hard. I looked at him questionably, but he shook his head.  
  
"Uh, let's just say I still have nightmares about it, I never completely trust Tetra when she says she's going to 'help' me, and my head hurts whenever I think of it." With this, he turned and ran to Epona. Tetra rolled her eyes.  
  
"Don't worry. He'll tell you eventually. It took Medli three weeks, but he finally cracked. Anyway, if you think he's uneasy now, you should see him on the boat." She glanced around for Risky, and then sighed. "He always stays two yards away from the old thing. Link? Will Epona mind if I sit behind you?"  
  
"She'll be fine." He patted the spot on Epona's rump. I turned to climb onto Swiss and heard them speaking in undertones: "Man, Tetra, why do you always have to do that?" Link hissed.  
  
"Aww, but Link, that night was the highlight of our... friendship, y'know?" There was a great sigh heaved by the Outset Islander, and if their murmurings continued, it was drowned from my ears with hoof-beats.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
We rode through the woods and got to the other side. Hoof-beats resonated from the east side of the valley, and we turned to see the pirates and the Rito coming our way. Medli was still evidently asleep, and the prince and the buccaneers all had huge smiles, for they were singing:  
  
"Tropeo the pirate, the terror of the seas/a turtle bit his legs off, he walks upon his knees!"  
  
"Oh, no!" grimaced Tetra. "Would you stupid people pick a different song, please?" she yelled. Then she realized she'd rhymed, and smacked herself in the forehead. Link grinned, and joined in the last line.  
  
"THE SAILORS ALL TELL TALES ABOUT HOW SWIFT HIS SABER SWINGS!!!"  
  
"Please tell me the point of that song. I thought WE were the pirates here, not some guy without shins."  
  
"Aww, c'mon Tetra, you never have any fun." Sighed Link.  
  
"It's not that I don't have fun." She said. "It's just the fact that you guys always pick the stupidest songs!"  
  
"It's not stupid!"  
  
"Yes it is! What kind of turtle would be able to do that?"  
  
"TETRA! That's not the point!"  
  
Yes, it was annoying, and the lot of us had to put up with it all the way to the Spilled Goblet. 


	7. Introductions

A/N: Hi! I'm sorry, but my chapters may be somewhat delayed from now on due to my participation in several community plays ("Annie" and "The King and I"), plus tons of homework. It is, however, quite easy to put these down on paper, since I have the entire plotline written out in my head. In a nutshell, the rest is about races, misfits, and mythology of sorts (I probably lost a few there). You can't cram a lot into a nutshell, so stay with me; it's better than it sounds! There won't be very many monsters until the end, sorry to say, but Tetra'll kick more than monster butt! ~Who gives a rip about this Tropeo guy? These guys can carry out an argument for ages (half an hour, to be more specific)!  
  
Once more, we rode into the cool shade of a forest, and this time it was reassuringly familiar. I smiled; I knew this entire wood from the smallest pansy to the tallest oak, just as easily as I knew the back of my wrist. Our horses had slowed to a walk, Link and Tetra had finally ended their bickering (and were now sitting back-to-back, refusing to speak to each other), Medli had awakened, her orange eyes still half shut with a sort of fatigue; and the pirates- who seemed extremely fond of singing- had switched to a song more of Tetra's liking- and much more "piratey" by my standards. I won't type it out for you, since half of the lyrics seemed to be curse words (which the mousy one attempted to yell "BEEP!" over), but I'll tell you, I had to cringe and cover my ears before that wretched ballad got out of my head. When that song had ended, the buccaneers took breaths to start another profanity-ridden refrain, but Tetra simply raised her hand, and they let it out as a sigh.  
  
"Thanks," I breathed, uncovering my ears and realizing that Komali, two horses over, had been doing generally the same thing as I. The pirate captain smirked and looked to the other side. Then she looked back at me with a puzzled expression.  
  
"You haven't met my guys yet, have you?"  
  
"No, I suppose I haven't," I was curious, but I was really not sure weather I wanted to or not, considering the songs they sang, not to mention the fact that they'd obviously done something horrible to Link. On the other hand, he must've kept traveling with them for some reason.  
  
"Gonzo? Get your hoss over here; Anni has no idea who you guys are," Tetra had to call over several horses to get the message over to him, since we all were riding in pretty much a row in front of the herd. The guys on the horse looked back over the other, the smaller one having to sort of climb up his huge partner's back to see. Both saluted: "Aye-aye, Miss," and got their pony to back and then side step until it was between Tetra and I.  
  
Their horse was a grey (one I called Beau), and the large rider was the green-and-maroon clad one who had mouthed to me when I'd first met their captain. He wore his maroon bandanna right over his eyebrows and almost over his eyes, so that they shone out from the shadow creepily, but when he began to speak, he sounded quite extraordinarily like a very nervous and otherwise uneasy person- unusually so for a man. "Do you need something, Miss Tetra?" His voice squeaked every once in a while from anxiety.  
  
"Not really, Gonzo. I'm just helping Anni put names to faces." After this she cringed, clearly expecting his reply.  
  
"You're quite sure, Miss? Nothing at all, yeah?" Tetra rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yes, Gonzo, nothing at all. What are you, my mom?" She groaned.  
  
"Your mother was not a very responsible person, milady," he replied, rubbing his broad forearm sheepishly with a sweaty palm. "I'm just acting in your best interests, like she ordered me to; quite a load of work it is, yeah?" Tetra rolled her eyes again, this time ending with a small grin. She shrugged with one shoulder.  
  
"Obviously, he's my bodyguard. I sorta inherited these guys from my mum. No idea what she was thinking when she appointed some of 'em, though." She gave Gonzo a playful glare, and I saw him shiver. "Another example of my mother's preferences is this piece of work back here," she said, gesturing toward the other pirate. "This is Zuko. Say hoy, Zuko." The sea- dog gave her an odd look, grunted, and waved. "See? He's barely literate." Zuko murmured something to himself and faced front. He had bristly brown sideburns which made the scarlet bandanna on his head seem even brighter; I noticed that his blue-striped shirt wasn't tucked in all the way around his waist, and his belt buckle was in the shape of a skull.  
  
"What does he do?" I asked, not sure it was much if he spoke in grunts.  
  
"He's the lookout." Tetra sighed. "He has the sharpest eyes of all the Great Sea. The funny thing is, whenever he sees something, he never knows how to tell us what he saw, so we never quite know whether we should wave one of our flags or get the catapult ready." I laughed, and she started once I did; this was the first time I'd seen a grin on her face that wasn't superior or sly, but rather goofy looking, and the tips of her ears were bright scarlet like her bandanna. She, struggling to straighten her face, beckoned to the next pirate horse, and I recognized the little one this time; he was the mousey one who'd teased Link a while back- Niko, wasn't it? "The one in purple is Nudge-he's our counselor- and the little guy's Niko. He's the swabbie, and he's Link's favorite." Link, though not involved in this conversation due to his not speaking with Tetra, gave us a glance, and winked at Niko, who returned it.  
  
"I hear you rescued Link." The mousey pirate said, trying desperately (and fruitlessly) to make his voice sound low instead of squeaky as he straightened his sky-blue bandanna. "He was telling us all about how you gave him that potion, and all."  
  
"I didn't; at least, not really- I mean, he would've come to on his own, I'm sure." I felt my face grow hot, and I saw Link smile and shake his head slightly, though he still faced forward. "Erm... What makes you Link's favorite?"  
  
Niko chuckled embarrassedly and replied: "According to Miss Tetra, it's the fact that I let him get away with so much." Tetra nodded.  
  
"Niko, it's true. You've let him have a Spoils Bag, spare bombs, extra portions of meals, the best sleeping bags, fewer chores than anyone else, sleeping in, places opposite the lee of the campfire smoke, and various other privileges that he shouldn't really be having," she said, counting each off of her fingers.  
  
"It's not me, Miss," Niko said, almost sorry to admit it, looking down at his scarlet-striped shirt, his mouse-like front teeth protruding between his lips. "We always make bets, and he always wins."  
  
"Don't make bets, with him, obviously. Everyone knows that green's a lucky color." I had a feeling that she was making this up, but I didn't say anything. Nudge spoke up then in his calm, counselor-like manner, running a hand along the back of his orange kerchief and down the length of his particularly long, black-and-grey streaked hair.  
  
"I don't mean to interrupt, Miss, but if green is such a lucky color, why don't you make us wear it?" One could tell that Link was enjoying this greatly as he attempted to suppress laughter first with a tight-lipped smile, then behind a hand, and then behind fake coughs when a snort sneaked out. Once Tetra realized what he was doing, she smacked him on the head and folded her arms. Link rubbed his crown, but still chuckled under his breath as if he were Tetra's little brother (smaller siblings seem to do such things- I know from experience).  
  
"Why don't we wear green?" she mimicked. "Why are you asking me? I'm not the smart one around here. That's Mako." She folded her arms across her chest.  
  
"You have such anger! Take a few deep breaths for me- that's right, in and out, in and out-" Nudge instructed, and Tetra (reluctantly) obeyed sulkily.  
  
"And that's why we have a counselor around," Niko said jokingly, not able to help himself. Tetra gave him a death stare, but then eyed Nudge and took another huffy. That's probably true, I thought to myself, not without a small grin on my lips.  
  
Tetra (once calmed down considerably), called the next two pirates up, and introduced me. "This is Mako- he's the one who taught me angles to use in that battle against the crocodiles." Mako adjusted his glasses, which were nearly half an inch thick.  
  
"Salutations." He said smartly, closing the great scarlet book on his lap. I noticed with interest that he had no sheath, as the others had, and that the skull on his belt buckle had glasses.  
  
"I'm Senza," said the large pirate, not hesitating a moment to let Tetra introduce him. He held out his rather scarred hand, and shook mine so heartily my arm felt somewhat limp afterward. I recognized his name from the captain's talk prior to this meeting, and took advantage of it.  
  
"Aren't you the one that runs the catapult?" I asked. "Tetra told me about you."  
  
"Yeah. Also do the ballast." He replied, smiling mischievously at the back of Link's head.  
  
"He tells the most splendid stories as well!" Medli exclaimed. "When we would travel, we would all gather around him beside the campfire just before we got to bed. That is, if there was a campfire to gather by..."  
  
"Yeah, everyone tells me that, so I suppose I am. It all comes from experience, really." He said, quite modestly. I smiled and nodded.  
  
It was not long after that that a wonderful, entrancing sort of scent wafted under our noses. I heard several stomachs growl. I was rather familiar with this aroma, so much so that I hardly noticed it anymore, but I knew the effect it had on newcomers. One could be driven mad with hunger by way of one whiff, which, as you can imagine, made The Spilled Goblet a very fine business. It was somewhat like oranges and chives, fresh coffee with cream, boiling cider, trout frying with pineapple, chocolate, cucco roasting with honey, pork and dates, beef marinated in cocktail, baking bread, and all the other lovely sorts of smells that waft from one's grandmother's kitchen when she's cooking for a very large party. In this case, though, it was my Aunt Siagon and the various ranch-hands that worked with her, not much farther down the road. The horses smelled it too, and thinking of the oats waiting for them in the stalls, began to canter without a prod.  
  
Epona reared again, and bolted ahead. Link had to turn around and catch Tetra before she fell off. Medli covered her mouth (this was somewhat awkward, since she had to shove her hand underneath her beak), whether in fright or surprise, I have no idea. The smoke of our chimney rose above the horizon, and the fragrance grew stronger as we descended that last hill toward home. The horses flooded into the forested valley like a sort of sparkling, mystical waterfall, and they slowed. We dismounted, the Prince taking to the air easily on his swift, wide wings, the bag holding Makar dangling wildly beneath him.  
  
"C'mon guys!" I said, running into the depths of the woods. I hardly heard them follow as I turned, parted two leafy branches, and let them all behold the splintery oak building before us, The Spilled Goblet, just as the three-o'-clock sun hit it and exposed every crevice in the wood. It, at least in my opinion, was a comfortable, happy place. Perfect to come home to, even if you didn't live there. 


	8. What Saigon Saw

A/N: I see some newbies are joining in! As you may have noticed, I am my character, in many more ways than one. And about the guns (this is for anyone curious); my province on the Mainland, Boulviddar, is slightly more up to date than the rest of the (known) Great Sea. The citizens have many sorts of things because they are the descendants of the inventive Sheikah tribes- in fact, you'll see some more of them in this chapter! I thank Dan (and Ari) for the inspiring compliments; I obviously do appreciate reviews, so write away- it helps me know what the readers like and dislike and helps me improve the overall plotline. (By the way, there WILL for sure be a sequel, but that may be thinking too far ahead...)~ My heart bursts with pride as I see the looks on my newfound friends' faces. They already seem to love the home I adore.  
  
"Wow, Anni. How old did you say your aunt was?" Tetra said, an impressed sort of frown forming on her lips. "A place like this seems like it'd be too difficult to manage."  
  
I smiled, and found my face was going hot. "She's on the brim of one hundred- but she has some help, of course." I brushed a lock of black hair from my face; something I often did when I was somewhat nervous. Link let out a low whistle. "And part of it's the house and the kitchen."  
  
"Still, though," murmured Tetra. She started to walk forward, and then we all did- except Komali, who still hovered in the air along with us, casting down an awful churning wind that made everyone's hair (if it was long enough) fly randomly about their faces like horses' tails during a mosquito- filled summer. This was especially true with Medli's long mahogany ponytail.  
  
Link nudged the captain teasingly, obviously speaking to her again. "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," He grinned. She nudged him back.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm so hungry I could eat that huge bird that kidnapped your sister! Beat that, kid!" She laughed. Link thought for a minute- perhaps there weren't very many things larger than that bird.  
  
"Help yourself. I bashed his head in ages ago, and he would've done the same to you, if it weren't for your pirates' stupid catapult!" He shoved her again. "I'm so hungry I could eat Valoo!"  
  
"Link!" Medli groaned. "You want to eat him after all he's done for you?"  
  
"...Seagull-feathers, Med, I guess you're right... How about the pirate ship?" He said after a moment. Tetra snickered.  
  
"If you're into high fiber," she smirked. "Besides, I think Valoo would find it much easier to eat you than have you eat him."  
  
"Aww, shut up," He said it, but one could tell he didn't mean it, judging by the slightly lopsided smile on his lips and the seagull-like laugh that accompanied it.  
  
Soon, my hand rested on the old, tarnished brass doorknob; it was not cold under my fingers, but warm from the stoves and steamy food within. Beaming to myself, I threw the door open. "Auntie, I'm home, and I've got lots of company!" I yelled, the heat spilling over us like water in a hot bath, the smell of the kitchen putting everyone into a trance. In a whisking motion, I took off my hat and hung it by its hook on the door, the swinging bottles making a tinkling sound as they bumped together. It was hard to see through the steam at first, and then two of the ranch hands, Lonà and My'chel, stirring soup and a dessert of some sort appeared as mere silhouettes, not even looking up as they worked. "C'mon, guys," I said, nodding and beckoning to my friends, who stood hesitantly at the door. I grabbed Link by the wrist and drug him in, and I realized that he was hypnotized by the scent. "Link? Hey, are you all right?" His eyes opened in a flash.  
  
"Erm, yeah. Of course! What made you so sure I wasn't?" I rolled my eyes and led them rather quickly down the hall, which was lined with all sorts of boiling and baking things.  
  
"Anni, what's your aunt like?" I heard Medli ask several feet back; she was easier to see now- the steam was beginning to thin because I'd left the door open a crack, and the redwood cabinets filled with jars and jugs of all sorts of things to make food taste better began to appear. Some of the items inside were magical, many of which hung from my hat, and others as simple as salt, things such as nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, pepper, curry powder, unicorn cream, and powdered dragon scales (meant to be used sparingly; their magic was quite strong and could make a dish warmed slightly without cooking with just a pinch) to name a few.  
  
"Auntie Siagon? She's very kind and wise. You'll like her. Oh, and you'll want to remember- she's as blind as a keese." I replied, turning a corner and dragging Link up the stairs.  
  
"Um... Anni?" Link said, trying to get me to slow down. I stopped, and a very eager Tetra bumped right into him. He shook free of my grip, rolled up his left sleeve, looked at his forearm for a moment, and then showed me a very ugly scar. "I've fought keese- and I'll tell you, those things aren't blind." I bit my lip. That blemish wasn't the only one there on his slender arm; it wasn't the worst or the newest, either. There was evidence of burns there, too. I touched it gently with a slender finger. He turned his face away and looked toward a dusty window on the wall. "They don't hurt any more."  
  
"Boy, what have you done to yourself?" I murmured. He blinked. His eyes- the glowing color of light through emeralds- fogged over again with thought and memory. A slight lopsided smile appeared on his face.  
  
"They don't hurt any more," he repeated. With this, he turned, brushed off my finger, and rolled his sleeve down again.  
  
I escorted the gang down another hall; this was the "inn part" of the building, and each of the doors had a number carved (nearly illegibly) on it. When I hadn't heard an answer from Saigon, I knew she'd be up here, behind the door that didn't have a number; a pictograph of a yellow keaton fox hung from a rusty nail in its digit's stead. The three-tailed creature was often used as a symbol in Boulviddar, an image of all things intelligent and crafty; that was probably why it was depicted on the door to the library.  
  
Upon the opening of this door came the lovely, faint scent of dusty literature, each cover holding something new and different inside. I heard everyone, even the proud pirates that had no place in a realm of books, let out short gasps as they entered the room. It was no larger than your average bedroom, with hard pine floors and an occasional faded scarlet rug beneath the dusty red velvet chairs, the couch, and bookshelves of various woods. On the pieces of wall that weren't obscured by shelves, there were several large paintings, curling at the corners because they were unframed; they depicted several heroes of Boulviddar's often-told legend.  
  
The painting on the right wall, a swarthy young man with spiked, fingerless gloves, was a depiction of the famous "Long Claws" Louie, the only man ever to kill a dozen sea monsters without injury. He was eventually slain and devoured while trying to dispose of the Chichimara, a great shape shifting beast in legend- but perhaps it wasn't quite all folklore. On the left wall, there was another painting, this one of a man with an enormous, heavy- looking sword slung over his shoulder. He was McMiylan of the Gargantuan Blade, who in myth created the famed Gerudo Canyon with one earth-shaking lunge; he too was killed by that creature of darkness. Now, you may be wondering if the beast was ever slain; I am sorry to say it wasn't, and if you must know, I believed it was as real as the tips of Link's ears were pointed.  
  
I noticed that straight ahead, on the wall above the cluttered desk where Auntie worked, there was a new picture, ripped at one edge as if torn from a book. It was beautiful. There was a boy in it, of pale skin that was definitely not Boulviddarian, and ears that were much like those of my company. His fierce green eyes were hard with pain, fear, and determination... and love. In his scarred and bleeding arms, he held a girl close to his chest clad in torn and bloodied pink and gold, and she looked up in fear at the young man's noble scratched face. Darkness curled like smoke around his midsection. In the background stood many landmarks that seemed to mean something- but didn't, at least to me. There was a towering mountain, an enormous tree, a simple well, an imposing statue of the goddesses, and a lake, peaceful and serene.  
  
"Auntie? I'm home, and I brought some friends." I said, peering around bookshelves, trying to find her.  
  
"As if you can call us friends," mumbled Tetra, going red at the ears.  
  
"I know, Anni, dear. Do you think that I can't hear extra sets of feet?" I heard her reply from behind the next bookshelf. "The air whistles a bit differently around their ears, and I hear feathers rustling; yes, and what a variety of sizes!" I smiled to myself. If Saigon was impaired in sight, she could see nearly twice as well with her ears.  
  
Rounding the corner, we came upon my shriveled old aunt and the spicy tang of the perfume that always hung about her. Her eyes were open, yet they were pupil-less and opal-like, and she sat in the old wheelchair that a ranch hand had made for her- her legs hadn't worked in years. A multi- colored bandanna covered most of her long white hair. She would've looked quite frightening if there hadn't been a sense of kindness and comfort floating around her. At the moment we came upon her, she was running her fingers over the spines of the books. "Now, Anni, you're early! You're usually around at five, not three!" She clasped her worn hands and frowned slightly.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sai-sai, but my friends had an urgent problem- well, several, actually- and I suggested they asked you." I bowed my head slightly even though I knew she couldn't see me do it.  
  
"Well, then, dear, why don't you introduce me?" I nodded to Link, who stepped forward and bowed respectfully, although not that formally, for he kept his eyes on Saigon mid-bend. "Ahh, yes. Dear, you're the swordsman, am I right?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am. May I ask how you can tell, if you cannot see the sheath on my back?" He'd evidently been taught proper manners toward his elders- and good ones if I was any judge. She asked for his hand, which he gave to her with some puzzlement. Her fingers ran delicately along the inside of his palm, over callus and scar, and she didn't look at what she felt, for she couldn't, but straight into space.  
  
Auntie smiled. "Well, my boy, your sheath makes a little scraping sound on your shield- you must hear it so often that you don't notice it anymore- and now that I feel your hand... you haven't used a sword all that long, have you?"  
  
"It's been a couple months... since my twelfth birthday." He shifted his weight uneasily.  
  
"Tell me," she said, concerned. "Was it a happy one?"  
  
Link took a glance at Tetra, then at Medli and Komali, who responded with shrugs. He sighed. "No, no, it wasn't. Y'see, that was probably the all time worst day of my life." He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.  
  
"What made it so bad?" Saigon croaked when Link hesitated. She was as worried about him as she was with one of her blood- or one of her workers, like Daystar or My'chel. He tucked his thumbs beneath his belt.  
  
"Everything?" Saigon nodded. "Holy Din.... My sister had to wake me up, I got clothes for a present- they're actually not that bad now, though, and it was tradition," He paused and looked down at himself. "I met Tetra," Tetra smirked. "And she was very ungrateful when I rescued her," the pirate's ears turned scarlet and she folded her arms across her chest. "And, well, I don't want to get into it, but it went downhill from then. My sister was kidnapped by the same giant bird that got the captain, and I decided to go get her, and the pirates offered to... hem... 'help'." He turned and flashed his tongue at Tetra, who returned it smugly.  
  
"Humph. That was the best day of my life," she grumbled, tugging on the hem of her violet vest.  
  
"Now, what's your name, boy?" Saigon frowned.  
  
"My name's Link, ma'am."  
  
Auntie's frown turned into a strange smile. Nodding, she continued: "Of course. Now, Anni tells me you have a problem. Would you like to explain it to me? I'll do all I can to help." She spread her arms invitingly and Link hesitated.  
  
"Yes, of course, ma'am." Link bowed slightly. "I lost my sword." Tetra smacked herself on the forehead.  
  
"If I may butt in, it was the Master Sword." The sea-dog interrupted harshly and nearly accusingly. "And your Anni told us that it was stolen." Saigon paused.  
  
"Now, pirate girl, by the Master Sword... do you mean the blade that is not quite... steel?"  
  
The Outset Islander glared at Tetra, though she softened up little. "I suppose. There's not another one out there, is there?" Saigon shook her head slowly.  
  
"No," She closed her un-seeing eyes for a moment. "Now, this is an interesting case. If your Master Sword is the one I think of... It would seem that it would be impossible to steal."  
  
"So, it wasn't stolen, then?" Medli piped up hopefully in the background.  
  
My great aunt scowled.  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't underestimate Anni's powers that far... From what I see, it was." Her hairless brow furrowed. "There are only two hands in the world worthy enough to touch that sword, and the one who has stolen it has neither hands nor worthiness. I believe it was a great beast of darkness who resides on an island in the sea."  
  
My eyes widened. "B-but Auntie! Surely not him- I was sure his lair and existence were but m-myth!"  
  
"Oh, dearest, you'll have to start believing in legend. It was, I am sure, the dreaded Chichimara that haunts our folklore."  
  
Link, having not a scrap of knowledge of this beast, began to speak; one could tell by the look in his eyes that what he would say would be a vow to destroy it- or be destroyed trying, and I interrupted in the middle of his first word by breaking into tears.  
  
All eyes turned on me, be them hawkish, emerald, ice cold, opal- like or non-existent.  
  
I felt a hand, cold and delicate brush my back, and I heard the sweet voice of Medli over my shoulder. "Oh, Anni. What's wrong?"  
  
I wiped a tear off of my cheek, feeling embarrassed. "I've seen Link swordfight before- and he's plenty good- but he hasn't heard a thing of the Chichimara, and he wishes to defeat him."  
  
Tetra attempted and failed at using a comforting tone of voice; it was more of what she said than how she said it. "Yeah, but he's always pulled through before. Leave it to me to prove it. Banished the Dark Lord himself with only a little bit of my help." She winked. "Green's a lucky color." Link eyed me- there was a mixture of curiosity and sadness on his face.  
  
"Anni..." He hesitated, letting his eyes get foggy. "I-I don't have to go find him right this minute... I... I just need to get the sword back... People entrusted me to keep it safe... and- and if I don't... who knows what will happen?"  
  
I sighed and looked deep into the green of his eyes. It was cool and empowering like a dip in a cold lake, and he blinked and let himself smile faintly and lopsidedly. "I-I'm just so worried... I have a friend named Daystar who fought him. He came back alive- but he was turned into a dog... And I don't want anything like that- or worse- to happen to you."  
  
"I-I didn't know you cared that much." Link looked somewhat guilty. I smiled weakly.  
  
"Neither did I."  
  
"Uh, guys?" Tetra broke in.  
  
"What?" we said together.  
  
"If you keep doing that, I'm gonna lose my appetite." She made a retching sound and the pirates laughed behind her. Link smiled goofily, and, his ears turning pink, he looked away from me. "C'mon, guys." Tetra continued. "Saigon, we don't mean to be a bother, but Din, could we get something to eat?"  
  
Saigon smiled. "Of course. Help yourself to whatever we have down there, and Anni'll keep track of it for your bill."  
  
"I thought you said we could eat free," Tetra hissed at me through her teeth. "We lost almost all of our Rupees during the storm." Aunt Saigon heard and thought a moment.  
  
"Well... If you're that desperate, we could arrange a keaton hunt tonight to work it off; we're a bit short of tail hairs anyway." Keaton hair, if used right, could make a bland dish have a bittersweet sort of taste. I smiled.  
  
"Oh, a keaton hunt! Saigon, you're a genius!" I bent and hugged her delicately, then rushed to follow the eager group back down the stairs to the steamy kitchen. 


	9. The Keaton Hunt and Other Matters

A:N: (Sorry it's taken so long) Sacrilegious? You've never tracked a keaton, have you? You don't kill them! Well, whatever. There will be part in this that will be fairly hard to read; I got the idea from an old sixteenth-century book, in which they evidently didn't have editors. If that gets too difficult, just let me know; I'm going to get either beaming reviews or ravings and lost fans from that... Get out your fly paper and mask, because we're about to go on a hunt! I like the fact that I'm getting some more action review-wise, and if there's anything at all that bothers you or delights you, tell me about it! I've said it before, but it's criticism that makes a good author! And, Dan, when it comes to my characters and their traits/habits- ALL of them- and the situations they get into, my main sources are the game, and the reality. (A tip for you aspiring authors and others:) If you do anything in the arts and wish to go beyond what you see around you, you must study what IS around you! ~  
  
It was around three-thirty when they ate. Too late for lunch, and too early for dinner; but unless you eat at regular times each day, that doesn't really matter. And it didn't- not for them, who seemed to have eaten absolutely nothing for months.  
  
They chose out several different delicacies (greedily), and sat down rapidly at a large rectangular table in the party section of the near-empty restaurant. I don't know how to describe it, really. Half the table was loud and rude and noisy- there were pieces of fried cucco, grains of seasoned rice, and vegetables flying everywhere so that one could not tell what were scraps and what were not; and the other half, though they slurped their soup occasionally or ate things a bit too eagerly, was quieter and more conserved; nearly enough to pass for a king's court.  
  
I bet rupees to rhinestones that you can decide who was on which side.  
  
Link, who sat at a head of the table, had eaten several helpings of cucco when he found he was rather thirsty. I strode, feeling somewhat pleased that they liked our cooking, down a short hall into the kitchen to the icebox and opened the lid, the cold mist washing over my face.  
  
"What do you want?" I asked, peering over the brown glass bottles and reading the homemade labels. He craned his neck to look at me.  
  
"I dunno... What do you have?" I squinted at a label for a minute.  
  
"We've got water, apple cider, some grape stuff, apricot and peach nectar, strawberry soda, ginger ale, root beer... and something pink." He furrowed his brow.  
  
"I have no idea what any of that stuff is... well, besides water. I suppose they don't have it out on the sea." He shrugged. "I'll take the cider stuff, I guess."  
  
His friends piped up once he made his decision out of the foreign menagerie of beverages.  
  
"May I try the- what is it... strawberry?" Medli said, delicately picking at her green beans with her fork.  
  
"I'll just have water, please." Makar said. He wasn't eating anything the others were, so I had given him a small carrot to nibble on. He, although he had no idea what it was, was enjoying it; it must've been the same with the others, since they didn't know the names of things and would have to ask for it using general terminology such as 'stuff', 'junk' and 'that thing with the sauce that I really like'.  
  
Komali gave some thought, stirring the vegetables around in what remained his soup, before he decided. "How about the pink stuff?"  
  
When there were no more orders from the table, I returned with all the bottles, including some label-less pink stuff for myself- I was curious, having never seen it before (it tasted somewhat like pomegranate). Our eyes turned for a moment to the pirates' side of the table. Apparently, their side had had only one roll, and all seven of them wanted it. It was very comical to watch; Nudge and Mako were coming up with theoretical reasons that they should get it ("You had the last helping of the salty stuff!"), Zuko was rambling on in gibberish; and Senza, Gonzo, Niko, and Tetra were all yelling and bumping each other with their elbows. They all had one hand on the roll in the center. Tetra smirked, looked from side to side, and with her free hand, grabbed a butter knife. She brought the flat of this down, hard, on the top hand (Gonzo's), which drew back as the owner cursed in pain. She repeated this several more times- luckily, hers had been the first to grab the little baguette- and finally, with groans from her crew, she took her prize and bit into it.  
  
Chewing leisurely, her ice blue eyes wandered to us. We stared. "What are you looking at?" she growled around her mouthful. I blinked several times.  
  
"Erm...Nothing. Tetra, do you want anything to drink?" I asked, shaking my head slightly. She swallowed.  
  
"I heard the choices- nothing sounds good, really." She smacked Niko's hand as he attempted grabbing the bread while she was distracted- she did this without a glance in his direction, as if she were blind like Aunt Saigon.  
  
"Well, I've got milk and stuff in the kitchen." I continued. She shrugged.  
  
"Not the kind of stuff I like." Link prodded me with the cold lid of his cider bottle, and I grabbed it absently and wrenched it open. I did the same for everyone else, noting that I should eventually teach them to open their own bottles. When I handed it back to him, he took a tentative sort of sip- and found he liked it very much.  
  
"Well, what do you like? I can't have you dying of thirst." She just smirked and took another bite of bread, and I got a strange feeling. "Er... I don't sell alcohol to minors." To my surprise, she broke out laughing, holding her hand over her mouth to keep from spraying crumbs across the table.  
  
She swallowed again- between laughs- and smiled in my direction, resting her chin in her free hand and swatting away the very determined Niko with the other. "I thought Link told you that we were 'eccentric' pirates." She said. "I don't like it myself, so I only let these guys have grog when I'm in an exceptional mood."  
  
"Which is never," grumbled Senza.  
  
"If you have an attitude like that," Tetra yawned. "I, personally, like coffee."  
  
I stared. Link rolled his eyes. "It's better than rum and gunpowder, I suppose. Tetra, you should try some of this cider stuff. It's really good!"  
  
"That's because it's fresh." I blushed. "I can get you some coffee, if you want. I've got cream, sugar and some mocha stuff."  
  
"What in Din's name is mocha?" Tetra said, pushing the last of her bread between her lips. Niko groaned and sat down. She smirked slightly at his disappointment.  
  
"Chocolate. Do you have chocolate on the Great Sea?" She looked at me funny and shook her head. I continued. "It's a sort of brown candy that's really... well, sweet."  
  
"Hmm. Whatever... I'll try it." I went and got her some, and she enjoyed it immensely.  
  
~*~  
  
Upon looking at the bill, I realized that even something as profitable as a Keaton hunt wouldn't even pay off half of what they owed, even with the free refills and numerous other discounts I'd given them. Obviously, I did not tell them this.  
  
Evening fell gently on the Spilled Goblet and all of its lands. I occupied myself throughout the afternoon by helping with the cooking, and Medli offered to assist me. I proceeded in teaching her the uses of herbs magical and non-magical, and she willingly learned and put it to use as she helped me out.  
  
Meanwhile, the others lounged about upstairs in the library, and whenever I gave myself a break, I would check on them. Usually when I did this, I was bombarded with questions about the Keaton hunt, especially closer to evening. Half of them had no idea what a Keaton was, much less how to hunt them.  
  
"It's a large, yellow fox," I recall myself saying. "With three tails and long, black-tipped ears. And he's very clever."  
  
"Sounds weird to me. Won't it try to hurt us?" Komali asked. He was stretched out leisurely on one of the scarlet couches, with one of his feathered wings spread out so that he could straighten his plumage.  
  
"No. In fact the only reason you'd need a sword is in the matter of summoning it. And I think Link could do that quite well." Link raised one of his slightly singed eyebrows.  
  
"And why's that?" He said, blowing one of his bangs from his eyes in a bored sort of way as he plunked into an easy chair.  
  
"Well, you're really agile..." I wasn't sure how to explain it all- it would be particularly difficult to tell him that he had to cut down seven plants- that moved, no less. He seemed to have experience in such things, though, so I didn't bother to brief him on this yet.  
  
He yawned and shrugged. "Whatever you say. D'you mind if I conk out for a while?"  
  
"No, you're fine." I reassured him. He was snoring before I was finished speaking.  
  
"You'll never be able to wake him up," Tetra said, not looking up at us over what she was reading. It was a book I'd never been interested in, Your Voyage. It was a boring volume about finance issues in ventures at sea. She got to a sentence in the middle of the first page and wrinkled up her nose. "Payment from the Royal Navy? Are they mad?" Throwing it to a coffee table, she grabbed up another book, this one a copy of the Odyssey. She read it a bit, flipped through it, and smiled. "Now this is a book! Wars, magic, and a one-eyed monster!"  
  
Medli covered her mouth and giggled. Tetra began to read, and didn't stop until about an hour later, when Link had awakened and browsed the books himself. What he found in that series of shelves was a book I had never seen before. It had symbols etched in peeling gold leaf on the front, including three triangles forming a triangle, and it was in a tattered red binding; very old, if I'm any judge.  
  
"What's that?" Medli asked, squinting at the cover. "It's in Valoo's tongue... It says 'LZ'." How she understood that, I have no clue, but I was overwhelmed with curiosity.  
  
"What in Din's name is that supposed to mean?" asked Tetra, dog- earing the page before she slammed the Odyssey shut. Link opened the book, and sat down on the couch so we could see. There was a painting on the page, of the goddesses, with arms outspread, floating in a void of darkness around a tiny blue dot. Things were written around this drawing, in symbols both blue and black.  
  
"What does it say?" asked Makar, peering over the back of the couch. Medli scooted closer to Link and squinted.  
  
"It is difficult... The person writing in blue has much better handwriting than the one in black, but most of the words are misspelled..." She paused a moment, then began to read the blue lettering:  
  
"Longe ageo, our lande of Hyrule wass vut a voide of blackness, over whicth the Goddesses Of Light came acrost in ther nightly flyings. Upone seeing this horride Black Hole, Nayru, the Great Goddess Of Wisdomm, the onne of a senceitve heart, cry bue a single teare; thus creating Love, Ordere, and Wisdomm, the foundation offe Hyrule."  
  
"This is really hard," laughed Medli, keeping her place on the page with one of her fingers.  
  
"Keep reading," said Link, Tetra, Komali, Makar, and I, in chorus.  
  
"Farore, the Great Goddess Of Courage, thene singeth her sweet songe towe the Earth, and life sprung from it; the birdes to the aire, the Zora fishe to the Watere, the Gorons to the Earth, the Kokiri to the Forest, the Gerudo to the Desert, and the Noble Hylians and the Sheikah to the rich fieldes and plains of the Valleye.  
  
"Din, the Great Goddess Of Powere, then laughed gaily at her sisteres, and strengthe spread through every onne of the Peoples of Hyrule. And alle wass goode and welle."  
  
"Zora fish?" Komali mused.  
  
"Kokiri?" Makar questioned.  
  
"Gorons, Gerudo?" Medli said. "This is quite a strange book, Link."  
  
"Yeah, but I like it, sort of," he smiled and shrugged.  
  
Tetra shook her head. "Noble Hylians? This is a bit archaic, don't 'cha think?"  
  
"It's weird. I mean, honestly. The Sheikah? But I've never heard this story about the gods before." I said, and the others nodded. Link tapped Medli on the shoulder, and she continued.  
  
"Buut, soone the Peoples begane twoe war against each othere, and the Goddesses realized that theyy woulde neede to appoint Heroes to rescue the Land frome sertain destructione. So they sett to worke.  
  
"The Hero of Nayru was twe bee of Royal Blood, and gentil. She woulde give advicee to the othere Heroes, fore as long ase She lived, and longere, ande onlye the Destined woulde receive Her hearte.  
  
"The Hero of Din was thee leader of theme all, and Nobil Blood would flow in hiis veins. He would controle the Land with a hande of Brute Strengthe, and there woulde be noone who coulde ougt-fighte him.  
  
"Farore, hovever, spent morr time onn her Hero, and Hers waas to bee the Greateset of all. He would be offe the humbleste blood, but his Hearte was to be the Bravest and moste Determinede thinge e'r created. And he woulde allways bee fulle of Youth, and his Name would never be rememberede longe, thoughe He did the Greatest thingse.  
  
"Din grew jealouss of Her sisteres' Creations, and in herr furye, spilt a tankared ofe Wine into Her Hero's blood, fillinge hise mind withe thingse of Evil and Mischief. She thene spilt a drope of winne intoo the blood ofe eacch of Her sisters' Heroes. This gavee Nayru's Hero the Weaknness of Dispare. The Hero of Farore waas cursed with Temptation. This is the wayye ite woulde bee foor the Rest Of Time."  
  
"Okay, that's just scary." Tetra said, swallowing hard. Link's eyes had gone foggy again.  
  
"Link. Stop that!" I said. He did that a bit too often for comfort. He blinked.  
  
"What? What am I doing?" He said. I rolled my eyes, and was about to ask Medli to continue, when barking echoed up the stairwell, and Aunt Saigon called to us.  
  
"Anni, it's getting dark enough to hunt! Gather up your friends, and grab the flypaper on the way down."  
  
"Yes, Sai-sai!" I called back down, everyone beside me in the room looking quite confused.  
  
"Flypaper...?" Tetra inquired, eyebrows raised.  
  
"I'll explain later." I said, taking three large rolls of flypaper from Saigon's desk. We ran down the stairs and found Auntie there, her poncho on, and Daystar beside her; both were ready to go outside.  
  
"I have the mask, Anni; you needn't worry about that." Auntie said, patting her backpack. I nodded. She smiled back and returned to the kitchen to pack supper. She could do quite a lot without seeing, and sometimes it was unbelievable. Daystar looked up at Link and growled under his breath, but Link patted his head absently.  
  
"Umm... Link?" I said. "He doesn't like that... He's... well, he's that friend I told you about- Daystar- and he used to be human not that long ago." The dog growled louder as I said this, and Link withdrew his hand quickly. Daystar gave me a burning glare.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Daystar," Link said cheerily (or at least tried to make it cheery). The ruddy little dog rolled his eyes. "You needn't worry about the Chichimara; I have intentions of killing him..." he looked into my eyes for a moment and added: "Someday, anyway." Daystar stared at me like I was crazy as Link retreated to go joke with Komali.  
  
"Well, it wasn't like I encouraged him, Day." I assured him with an indignant tone. Medli's hand brushed me for my attention, and I turned to look down into her orange eyes.  
  
"I believe it's time to go, now," Medli said, gesturing with both her hand and her chin towards the door, where Saigon stood with a picnic basket.  
  
And so it was. We set out on foot and walked for about an hour before we came upon the Keaton's dwelling place, a clearing in the dark, shadowy forest bathed in moonlight. Everything, even the motes in the air, seemed to be made of sparkling silver, and in the center of the clearing grew seven small shrubs; their long leaves dripped with dew, though the sun had barely set.  
  
"Anni, did you explain the hunt to your friends?" Saigon asked, unpacking an old wooden mask. I felt sheepish and shook my head.  
  
"Not really," I admitted.  
  
"No worries, child. I shall," she reassured me, staring blindly into space as she dusted off the saffron yellow mask. "Link, you are the Swordsman, and you wear this mask as you summon the creature," As she explained this, she held it out for him to take. He looked it over for a moment, brow furrowed, and seemed a bit engrossed with the design; with the yellow curve of its face interrupted by the jutting out of its nose and ears. There were two small dark slits for eyes.  
  
"Will I be able to see through this thing?" he asked, flipping it over.  
  
"You'll never know until you try it on." Saigon said, so Link pulled it on. Tetra snorted behind a hand.  
  
"I guess I'll be all right," came Link's voice from behind the mask, somewhat muffled. "What else?"  
  
"Pirate girl, could you spare your sword?" Auntie said. Tetra shrugged.  
  
"D'pends. Why do you need it?" she said, almost protectively. I had noticed since I'd met her that her left hand rarely left the scabbard at her side.  
  
"To summon the Keaton, Link must cut down all seven of those shrubs, and it would be much easier for him if he had a sword." Tetra nodded slowly at my great Aunt, and, reluctantly, handed Link the curved weapon. Link backed up several steps and swung the sword several times, just to get a feel for it. Saigon heard this and smiled. "Anni, you are to take Medli and Tetra and hide in the brush behind the clearing. Oh, and don't forget the flypaper," She paused. "You might want to tell them what they're doing, as well." I nodded, and led the two rather confused girls to the other side of the clearing.  
  
"So, what's the deal?" Tetra asked as I handed her a sheet of flypaper.  
  
"Well, y'see, once Link summons the Keaton, we need to sneak up behind him and wrap up each of his tails with flypaper. Then, we just pull it off, and we have some of his hair."  
  
"Won't that hurt him?" Medli, asked sympathetically.  
  
"A little. But his fur'll grow back." Medli frowned, not wanting to harm anything, but Tetra smirked. I supposed this was right up her alley.  
  
"Why do we need his hair anyway?" The pirate asked, warming her hands absently. Her eyes were so blue that they seemed to glow in the dark.  
  
"It was a seasoning in half the stuff you ate for lunch and it was one of the primary ingredients in the revival potion I gave Link."  
  
Tetra looked a little sick.  
  
Our eyes turned to the center of the clearing as Link stepped out of the trees, hesitantly, as if he felt rather stupid. He paused a moment. Then, with a short birdlike cry, he sliced three of the helpless shrubs. I saw a jolt roll up his spine as the other four plants began to sort of shuffle off in opposite directions. He panicked, and swung the sword almost at random, and leaves fell left and right at his feet. One remained, shuffling along, and had only a second to pause before Link had cut it to shreds. He panted a moment, and a whitish dust began to gather where the center of the plants had been.  
  
The yellow Keaton fox appeared, its tails waving luxuriously. "Hee, hee, ho, child. If you are attempting to fool me, it is impossible," it smirked. I had to hold back Tetra, who was eager and ready with her flypaper. "We Keatons can recognize our own by the sheen of our tails."  
  
"So I see," Link replied. The Keaton eyed him.  
  
"You are a good child..." It continued thoughtfully. "Let me put you to a test."  
  
"What sort of test?" asked Link suspiciously.  
  
"A test over your own life. I wish to see how observant you really are..." it drawled on. The movement of the tails was menacing to Tetra.  
  
"Why can't we go already?" she hissed through her teeth.  
  
"Because it'll hear us. We'll wait until Link answers a question, and sneak out while he's talking," I hissed back.  
  
"But I know Link, and he's NOT observant," she insisted.  
  
"You never know..." I murmured.  
  
"Answer me this," it breathed. "What is Tetra's most prized possession?"  
  
"Oh, come on," muttered Tetra.  
  
Link smiled. "That's easy. It's that necklace her mother gave her; the Triforce of Wisdom!"  
  
Tetra looked somewhat impressed as we crawled up behind the Keaton. I told the others to wait until Link spoke again before we unrolled the flypaper and revealed the adhesive, while wondering to myself what a Triforce was.  
  
"That is correct," it moaned, almost disappointed. "How about this? What did Beedle give you after 30 stamps on your membership card?"  
  
"A silver membership and a literally complimentary coupon." Link said, shuffling his feet. I had a feeling that he was looking at us from his side of the Keaton. "I mean, I brought it in, and he said that I was great. A picker-upper, but not a real discount on my part." I almost snickered. We prepared our flypaper, and were about to grab the Keaton's tails when the Keaton asked his next question, and his tails flicked away from us.  
  
"Correct," it said again. "What color was your mother's hair?" It sounded desperate.  
  
"How's he supposed to remember that?" Medli whispered. The Keaton's ear flicked back and then foreward again.  
  
Link was taken aback. "My... Mother? She's dead..."  
  
"Only since you were two. You should remember this." It prompted. Link shivered.  
  
"Umm... Yellow, I suppose...." The Keaton opened his mouth to speak, and Tetra grabbed the middle tail in her flypaper and yanked. Medli and I followed soon after, and the Keaton Fox shrieked and leapt into the air. It transformed back into white dust and disappeared, leaving the flypaper full of yellow and black hair.  
  
"Thanks, guys," said Link, rubbing the back of his head. "That thing was beginning to freak me out."  
  
"It's a stalker. It's always around," Tetra mumbled, looking back and forth and feigning paranoia. Link laughed.  
  
~*~  
  
We ate supper by campfire, and returned late that night, spending half an hour getting everyone associated in rooms of the inn. Most of the rooms had bunk beds, and this worked to our convenience because most of them had preferences with who they were with. Link, Komali, and Makar were the easiest, of course, choosing a cerulean decorated room with a wide window at the side. Tetra, however, insisted on being with Medli, whilst Gonzo and several other pirates felt they needed to be in her room to "protect her". I finally kicked all of the pirates into two rooms and took Medli and Tetra to mine.  
  
My room was basically just another inn room without a number on the door. It had bunk beds and a trundle, but I had to clear off a lot of my junk for someone to sleep in either.  
  
"I really like how you've decorated this place, Anni," Medli said, helping me clear parchment and scraps of material off of the trundle bed. This embarrassed me somewhat. The walls were decorated in maroon wallpaper which was almost completely plastered with parchment. Most of these were school notes, which as frequently as not fell onto the floor never to be found again; thus making the place cluttered. The rest of what remained on the wall were drawings I had done; some of them diagrams of things such as cucco skeletons that I had done in my leisure, and others my conceptions on the Boulviddarian heroes. I had a pen that Saigon had given me recently on my twelfth birthday that would draw in any color you told it to, and this was very helpful to me. It meant no more tedious switching of inkwells, and had been used in most of these doodles.  
  
Tetra climbed up into the top bunk of the bed, threw down a load of parchment, lay back with her head cradled in her arms and, without even bothering to kick off her sandals, fell asleep. Medli's eyes rolled upward, and we both laughed. 


	10. Are Dreams Spun From The Wind?

AN: Sorry it's taken so long! I write music as well as stories, and I just installed 'Finale' on my computer. I've been messing with it a bit too much, I suppose... I've put a lot of thought into the rest of this story lately, especially the ending, the 'issues of Tetra', and the beginning of the sequel, but I honestly didn't think too much about the 'back-story' properties of the Keaton hunt, even though there are some... hm. I'll think about incorporating it into the so-called 'issues of Tetra'. I've loved the upcoming chapter (even though I've had to split it in two so you wouldn't worry) ever since it appeared subconsciously; it has so many memorable moments. The words to Epona's song are completely my own, but, of course, the tune is property of Koji Kondo, the master of the music in every Zelda game. I've decided to make the "LZ" a bit easier to read, so, hopefully, I won't give you (or myself) anymore headaches. If you ever want it back, however, I will be happy to continue with all the old-fashioned spelling errors you could ever want. To congratulate myself on my tenth chapter, I have been looking at the earliest known version of this story in my mass of notebooks. Anni wasn't always what she is now; in fact, the whole ranch thing is pretty recent. She started out as a somewhat minor Gypsy-ish girl- a lot less daring, a lot more dependant on Link and magic. Link was a cocky, unaccompanied boy- the single thing I haven't changed is his etiquette toward his elders. The Chichimara has always been the monster, but I have altered it from gender to gender and changed the many tricks it plays dozens of times. The plot itself has thickened- it is less predictable, but still has a lot of the same elements as the original. I'll tell you more of these as I feel necessary, but for now, read, review, and enjoy! I may seem a bit out of practice due to Spring Writing Assessments at school...~  
  
The scent of horses filled my nostrils, and valley grasses licked at my heels. A warm breeze was blowing; the hair that swept before my eyes was as red as flame. Epona stood at my side, but she was but a filly, pushing her black-and-scarlet nose up under my hand, and before me stood a boy clad in green from the forests, a little iridescent being circling his head.  
  
'Fairy Boy,' I heard myself say. It was strange; what came out of my mouth was a long string of gibberish, but I sort of felt what it meant in my head and heart. 'Thank you for bringing Papa back. I dunno what I'd do without you.' I reached up to slide my hair behind my ear, and felt that my ear was three or four inches long, and pointed. I was appalled. Whoever I was wasn't at all. 'How was Zelda? She didn't kick you out, did she?'  
  
'No, she was great, Malon,' he said, smiling shyly and lopsidedly. I almost cringed at the use of my real name, and I realized that I knew his smile from somewhere...  
  
'Link, that's wonderful,' I heard myself say. Link? Surely not... But it was, with those tell-tale foggy green eyes and those long pointed ears, and the way that he rocked somewhat impatiently in his boots; even his green tunic was the same. This made me wonder what I looked like, and so I checked. There was nothing much to see; a pretty plain white skirt designed in blue at the hem, and a pale yellow blouse. Nothing I found particularly stylish.  
  
'Who's your pal, there?' He asked me; I realized he had a slight, spicy sort of accent that reminded me of lush green forests and eternal youth. He made a vague sort of gesture with his hand toward the filly at my side.  
  
'She's one of our newborns, Epona,' I answered him.  
  
'D'you think I could pet her?' he asked me, raising a soft, gentle hand.  
  
'You can sure try,' I heard myself answer. 'But she's a timid one, and she might not let you.' He moved his hand toward her, and sure enough, she hid herself behind me. We laughed, and the filly snorted indignantly. The inner me beamed. The real Epona had been exactly like that before she became rouge; sweet and shy. I suppose becoming more mature had stirred something in her mind, and made her so proud that one day that she never let anyone ride her again. Until Link had come along, of course. 'There's a song that'll comfort her. My mother wrote it before she died, and it always seems to work.' I smiled, and began to sing words that were somewhat familiar (though I didn't think I'd ever heard them before) to that old ranch tune I knew so well;  
  
'Stay close, Stay close  
Hear the river rush;  
Never fear, my friend  
Spring shall come again!  
  
'In the night, In the night  
When all hope is lost;  
Huddle up close to me,  
Share the warmth!  
  
'Sunbeams drip down from heav'n above  
My heart shall be your shelter;  
Things that frighten you, scare you off  
Shall fade away...  
  
'So when you leave, when you leave  
Keep my love beside you;  
Go to the farthest lengths  
Heart must be your strength!  
  
'And keep in mind, keep in mind  
That I'm always with you;  
Huddle up close to me,  
Share the warmth!'  
  
Epona cautiously crept out from behind me, and let Link run his hand from between her ears, to her star, to her black velvet nose. 'Your mom wrote that?' he asked, smiling slightly as the filly nosed him, searching for sugar or apples.  
  
'Yeah,' I grinned. Link stumbled a bit as Epona leaned against him. 'If you'd sing with me, I'd be willing to teach it to you,'  
  
'Er... I don't sing... but I have an ocarina,' He pulled a little ceramic instrument from his pocket. I tapped my foot and began to teach him the notes; the sweet sound of the ocarina resonated through the ranch, and every horse and cow raised her head and turned her ears toward us, two music-makers in a world of spite. The foresty tones echoed through my entire being, and my vision began to fade. Three voices whispered in my head; 'Remember... Remember... Remember...'  
  
'Remember what?' I yelled into the black, but nothing responded. 'What's so important? Wha-'  
  
"Anni, would you shut up already?" Someone grabbed my shoulders firmly, pulled me into a sitting position and shook me hard, and I opened my eyes to a very bedraggled Tetra. Her eyes were half shut with exhaustion, but she looked at me very seriously, and all I could manage was a sheepish grin. She groaned and threw me back into my bed. I took a glance at Medli on the trundle, who was still asleep. Tetra was about to climb back up to her bunk -the sky was still a dark blackish-blue outside through the window- when she stopped in the middle of the ladder, and gave me a puzzled look. "You were dreaming about Link, weren't you?"  
  
"...Yeah. How did you know?" She smiled faintly.  
  
"I have those, too. Kind of a pain to have the pirates rush into the room and shake you awake." She laughed.  
  
"...What do you see? When you dream, I mean," I asked, and she looked at me suspiciously.  
  
"Er... Link, of course...stone walls... and fancy courtyards, tapestries, a shadowy, armored woman, snow-white horses, stormy skies... And I'm always peering through a tiny window at Ganondorf... It's none of your business, really." She climbed another rung, and I interrupted her.  
  
"Do those three voices talk to you at all?" I asked. She glared at me, sighed and continued softly:  
  
"Yeah... They're annoying little buggers." She gave me a hard glance, and for a moment, I was surprised she hadn't turned me to ice with her cold eyes. "They're always telling you what to do. Sort of creepy... Would you leave me alone? I'd like to sleep a bit more, okay?" She grumbled some things inaudibly under her breath as she made her way to the top bunk and plopped down.  
  
I paused for a moment. "Tetra?" I said- almost squeaking.  
  
She swung her head upside-down over the side of her bunk. "What?!?" she snapped, almost loud enough to wake Medli.  
  
"...Do you think the dreams... mean something?" She stared at me seriously, sighed, and permitted herself to smile faintly, almost sadly.  
  
"Anni, I think they do," she mused. "I truly, honestly think they do." Presently, she looked me hard in the eye. "Now, no more of these questions unless you want me to shove one of my sandals down your throat, got it?" I nodded. She smirked in a satisfied sort of way toward herself and vanished.  
  
~*~  
  
I woke to the golden sunlight shining into my eyes through the window. The room was completely abandoned, but I thought I knew where everyone would be. I dressed quickly, tying a yellow bandanna around my neck; I had to go to school today, and the kerchief was a sort of uniform. I tidied up a bit, and then ran out the door, down the hall, and into the library. Sure enough, there was everyone, reclining in the dusty red-violet chairs. Medli was reading that 'LZ' book to a very engrossed Link, Tetra was playing chess with Daystar (and was being beaten very badly), Komali was discussing broken violin strings with Makar, and the pirates were fighting over who would read 'The Odyssey' next. Everyone was nibbling at a plate of assorted fancy pastries, which sat on the cherry coffee table. There were ten or eleven mugs, each of different styles, gathered beside the pastry dish; most were filled with orange juice, but one was full of coffee instead. I smiled to myself and plunked down on the couch next to Link.  
  
"Mornin' Anni," he said, beaming, but his attention was stuck towards the book.  
  
Medli rubbed her forehead and gave me a sheepish smile. "I just started a paragraph ago, and my head already hurts!" I laughed. Link blinked.  
  
"So? I had another rude awakening this morning." He glared at Tetra, who pretended not to notice him and smirked. I gave him a questioning look, and he looked somewhat uncomfortable. "Y'see, every once in a while, Tetra just gives me a sharp kick in the ribs to wake me up,"  
  
"Otherwise, he'll be asleep until noon!" She grinned, knocking out Daystar's pawn. He wagged his tail once and took out her king, carefully placing the piece with his jaws. "Agh! You really were a human earlier! I believe you now!" Daystar wagged his tail harder, so that it thumped against the sofa.  
  
"Oh, then I don't envy you," smiled Medli, still massaging her brow with all of her long, pale fingers.  
  
"So, how's the story going?" I asked, grabbing myself a chocolate muffin and peering onto the delicate parchment of the page. I was almost surprised that the gods weren't painted on this one. The first symbol on the page was illuminated in that old- fashioned style, so that it looked like a tree. There was a tiny, delicately drawn yellow-haired boy sitting against it, silver tears streaming down his face from exaggerated black-green eyes, and he was clad in a tunic such as Link's. I looked at Link and Medli, who simply wondered what I was looking at them for, and decided not to comment on anything until they were excited and intrigued by it. Trees and leaves and green-clad children loitered about the margins, and every last one of them was accompanied by a curious pinkish-white being- I recognized it from my dream, and decided (judging by the wings) it was a fairy of some sort. I looked back at the illumination with the crying boy, searching for the fairy, but there was none. Medli (reluctantly) began to translate:  
  
"Being a tale of the Outcast, written by those who know it, for they hath lived it: Back in the Age, when Hyrule was still young, fresh from war, and still regaining peace, there lived a curious people of the Southeastern forest. Amongst the lush green and brown, the Kokiri were all of youth, and all accompanied by a single fairy, which flew at their shoulder until their death, be them devoured by a Deku Baba or simply worn out by playing too often. There was no such thing as age among them. They never even discussed such ridiculous things. Except for one boy, that is...  
  
"He was a bit different from the others. It may have been that his ears were a bit too long, or the fact that he was a bit too tall, but he was considered strange among the Kokiri for his many thoughts on growth and life. They believed that these thoughts poisoned him so much that his christening fairy refused to go near him. They mocked him from a distance, this fairy-less child, convinced that his spoiled mind might drag them down too. Thus, the boy learned to fare mainly on his own, but on silver-moon nights, one could hear him weep in at the foot of his tree house. His name was... Oh dear." Medli paused and squinted at it. "I don't like names... This one was very honorable, you can tell." She pointed at several little quill scratches near the two square-like symbols of the boy's name. "See? These mean that he was appreciated by the Zora, the Gorons, my, by everyone! Oh dear..." She neared the page until the tip of her beak brushed it. "Good heavens... it's Link!"  
  
"That's strange," said Link, slightly puzzled. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, quite," she assured him. "It's actually a word with much meaning in Hylian."  
  
"Like what?" I asked, wincing as my tooth brushed a stale raisin in my third muffin.  
  
"Well... You know how a piece of a chain's called a link? And some bloodlines? In old Hylian, they often used the term as a connection as well, but it was in more intimate sorts of ways... It was one of the many terms for 'friendship' and even 'love'."  
  
Link looked a bit freaked out.  
  
I looked up at the clock, and something snapped inside my head. "Oh, Holy Din! I have school today!" I jumped off the couch, and rummaged around frantically for my backpack (I was never very tidy when choosing where I should leave it). Thankfully, I found it lying absently on the corner of a small lamp table, and I swung it over my shoulder.  
  
I was about to run out the door, when Tetra, without looking up, asked: "What's the rush? What is this 'school' thing anyway?"  
  
"Uh... I suppose it's where you learn stuff... Like reading, and writing, and all that sort of junk." I snapped, hastily. It was eight-thirty, and I needed to be there and seated by nine; it took a long time to run through a field, rent a gondola, and get through the canals of Boulviddar before you reached the schoolyard.  
  
"Isn't your mom supposed to teach you that stuff? Or your tutor?" she continued absently.  
  
"Or your grandmother?" Link added. Komali and Medli nodded.  
  
"I don't have any of those... And I gotta go, so see ya!"  
  
"Bye, and don't get yourself eaten or anything," Tetra concluded. I raised an eyebrow, nodded, and left with the speed of the wind behind my heels. 'What sort of farewell is that?' I wondered as I turned the toes of my boots toward the schoolhouse.  
  
~*~  
  
The bell must've sounded a split second after I sat down! I exhaled any tension left in me. No matter what obstacle I had faced, my record was still clean of tardiness. My teacher, Ms. Koholint, wrote the weekly writing assignment up on the chalkboard.  
  
"Write about what you did over the weekend."  
  
I smiled, and pulled a piece of parchment and my magic quill from my desk. Licking the tip, I dunked it in the inkwell, and began to write very untidily and quickly. There was no problem in describing each crew member in detail, especially Link and Tetra, and didn't think once about how much of a fairytale it really seemed to be.  
  
Later, after the paper had been handed in, Ms. Koholint beckoned me up to her desk with an awkward grimace. She was a long-nosed, brown-haired teacher, who wore horn glasses and a necklace strung with bits of ebony carved into children and numbers and apples, and she, like all teachers, could be intimidating at one time or another. This was one of those times. She gave me a plaintive sort of smile. Her teeth looked fake.  
  
"Anni, when I wrote that on the board, I meant real events," she declared solidly.  
  
"But-"  
  
"We both know that you have a knack for writing fantasy, and I see no problem in what you did write, but remember, sometimes in life you have to stick with reality."  
  
"But Ms. Koholint, if I may, everything in that paper is as true as twine, and nothing is exaggerated... Well, except for the fight with the crocodiles... But I can prove every word, honest." I argued, pounding a fist down on the desk. "I could bring Rito feathers, or maybe one of their instruments- if they'd let me, of course."  
  
"I don't think so. You have so many geese around your house, how should I know that the feathers aren't painted? And in your place, it's not hard to snag an instrument from a traveling minstrel." She smiled, and I felt uncomfortable. "Unless, of course, you could bring someone to school with you..."  
  
I gasped, with mixed feelings. "Oh, I'd be willing to do that... If the kids here weren't so judgmental of things... I mean, they have pointed ears, and beaks and wings; lots of teasing opportunities..."  
  
"Well," my teacher concluded. "I'd be fine with either. Hopefully the students wouldn't be too bad. It's your decision."  
  
I thought about it all day, doodling in the margins of my science-math tests. I was really relieved when the bell rang at the end of the day, and I ran out the door so fast that I forgot to pack a paper and was carrying it in my hand. The sun shone broad and bright in my face, even with my mother's hat to shade my eyes, and the wind was the strongest I'd felt in a while. It whipped around my legs and snagged the paper from my hands, blowing it high into the air. I chased after it. It had been my notes on homework, you see, and I would probably forget it all without it. It went west for a while longer, and settled on the ground just ahead of me. I rushed to perhaps stomp on it, and then the wind began to blow it in the other direction. I cursed audibly. This game of chase lasted until I was on my knees panting. The wind had blown in so many different directions in just about twenty minutes, but not once did I suspect a thing. My notes drifted casually on the now weak breeze and landed on my feet. "Hmm. Wind's acting funny today, don'cha think?"  
  
I looked up to see Link, leaning against a fence with a huge lopsided smile on his face and a long white baton sort of thing between his fingers. He grinned down at me and slipped the white thing into his left boot. In his other hand, he held some rupees and a small length of parchment with scribbling on it in green ink. "Link? What are you doing here?!"  
  
He looked up into the sky for no visible reason. "Oh, I just wanted to look around, see the sights, have a little fun... Y'know, stuff like that. Oh, and Saigon wants you to get some things, so I volunteered to bring you a list and some money."  
  
"The wind really was acting weird." I murmured to the ground, snatching my paper. "I hate it. It always ruins everything," I was in a bad mood, as I often was right after school, but when I looked back up into Link's face, he looked truly and genuinely hurt.  
  
"Oh, c'mon," he murmured, as if he were trying to avoid something. "I...It was just joking around." I looked at him as if he were crazy, and he smiled uncertainly. The soft breeze that was blowing vanished altogether and I realized that the wind was the only thing keeping us cool out here. I began to sweat. "D'you think we should go back to the gondola and get these errands done?" I mopped my brow with my school kerchief and nodded. "I got the gondola guy to hold it, but we'd better hurry before he gives it to someone else." The Boulviddarian gondolas were free and public, and sometimes you had to be quick to claim one, or you'd have to walk on the narrow wooden sidewalks on either side of the canals. If you were really unlucky, you'd have to wade across the street in a shallow area or cross a rickety bridge.  
  
"Well? Let's go!" I swung my backpack over my shoulder and began walking briskly toward the gondola dock. Link shrugged and followed me. I found the gondola the guy was leaning against. He recognized Link, and let us both on.  
  
"Thanks a lot, sir." Link nodded to the man, and they exchanged small grins. There was a yell from a woman in a gondola behind ours. I grabbed the oars to leave the dock, but Link made a hasty motion with his hand. I groaned and stopped. He stood up, shielded the sun from his eyes, and gazed over me at the woman. I took a glance too. She was dressed in very expensive-looking scarlet and gold robes, and her black hair was tied up elegantly in a bun with a comb of mother-of pearl. She leaned over the side of the boat, shielding her eyes and looking for something beneath the clear waves. "Madam? Is there a problem?" Link asked. She looked up. I smacked him lightly on the shin with an oar.  
  
"Link, stop being polite to people you don't know!" I hissed. He didn't hear me.  
  
The rich lady eyed him judgmentally. Her eyes were pitch black, painted with scarlet and gold eye shadow. "I dropped my most expensive silver bracelet over the edge of the boat, and it cost me half a fortune, too." She sighed. "There's nothing you can do about it, lad. It's gone. Thank you for applying yourself in my miseries, though." She sounded snobby and sarcastic.  
  
"I think I can help," Link smiled, kicking off his boots.  
  
"Link, what are you doing?" I growled. "Don't do anything reckless, lad!" the rich lady said, as if she didn't mean it very much. Link nodded.  
  
"I'll just save you some getting wet in those nice clothes of yours." He took off his hat, threw it onto the floor of the boat, and jumped off the side, headfirst into the water.  
  
"AHH! LINK!" I looked over the side of the boat but saw nothing except ripples. I would've wept- a normal person drowned in water- but didn't. Link had jumped in on his own free will, and, knowing him, he would probably amaze me somehow. I looked over at the rich lady. She wiped a tear off her cheek.  
  
"He sacrificed himself for my bracelet! Ah, this is beautiful!"  
  
It was only a moment before he appeared again above the waves, soaking wet with a huge grin on his face. Between his fingers he held a silver bracelet, which he handed to the woman from the water.  
  
"Link? You scared me! Where'd you learn to do that?" I asked, still in shock. "I mean, can just anyone... move through water?" He looked at me strangely, and it was almost comical because his long yellow bangs hung damply over his eyes.  
  
"What? Y'mean, swim?" He asked, as if I were a little ignorant. "Uh... Anni... I come from the ocean. Everybody knows how there."  
  
"But not here... It's a Lost Art." I said in awe. "No one's been able to do it since Long claws Louie." Link would've shrugged, but he was busy treading water.  
  
"Oh, thank you!" squealed the rich lady. "Anyone who helps me, Madame Ebony, deserves great payment!" She began to dig in a black leather purse, and I helped Link climb back into our gondola. The woman pulled out two purple rupees and handed them to Link. He gave me a quick smile. I looked away and to the sky, and a faint breeze returned, seeming to brush against me like feathered serpents.  
  
Then we headed off to do our next few errands. 


	11. Sign Up Here For Trials Ahead

AN: Howdy, folks! There's nothing much to say here right now, really. I've been sketching a lot of fan art and stuff based on this story, even though I'm a horrible artist. I wish I could sent some of it to you guys, but I can't due to the cursed Parental Controls. (I'm sorry for those in shock that are just now realizing how young I actually am) I'll try to post some on the internet at a later date, but I'm not sure that my Anni drawings would be considered LOZ fan art. I'm very glad that more people are joining in, and I'd like to thank everyone once more for their reviews. I'm especially honored to have a NEW newbie thinking well of me, so I'm feeling pretty good right now. I just read a lot of the "OoT" MANGA! Whoopee for me. Sorry it takes so long, but I'm busy and the chapters are pretty long (for me, anyway...) I've read it over and it's sort of rough by my standards, (It was cut short since I didn't want to keep you waiting too long, and I'm afraid it might be a dead chapter...) but what do YOU think? ~ We set off in the gondola down the canals of Boulviddar, on a search for extraordinary things. For me, it was but a weekly shopping trip.  
  
Link helped me out with the oars while I directed the boat toward the Main Current. The city of Boulviddar had been built over a great clear lake long ago, on long wooden stilts, but otherwise, it was your normal town. Minstrels played on the thin wood 'sidewalks' beside wooden houses and shops accented with reds and blues, asking for a rupee or two, and every once in a while, a peddler would cry out to sell his wares to the street. It was a rather crowded, busy place.  
  
"Link, you're amazing," I said, looking at him as he leaned against the bow of the gondola. He was still wet, and he looked like he was shivering a little. "That was a very rich lady."  
  
"Is that really so extraordinary?" he smiled, pulling his boots on over bare feet. "I mean, I do stuff like that all the time."  
  
"Diving into water in a country that hasn't swum in years and gaining yourself 100 rupees is normal for you?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I should've expected as much," I sighed and smiled. "Lemme see that list, would you? Or did you get it all wet?" We were getting close to Saigon's favorite stores.  
  
"Don't worry about it. I stashed it in my hat before I dove in," he assured me, pulling it off again. His hair was about three or four inches long in most places, and he looked pretty funny with it all hanging limply in his face. Regular Boulviddarian boys usually were bald or had hair cut very short, and none I had met were as gentle or amazing as Link. He handed me the piece of parchment and the rupees (including the two purple) after a bit of digging around. I told him to keep his own money, and he reluctantly took it back  
  
"Hmmm. Let's see..." I scanned the list. "We're close to Ramoya's place, so let's stop there." Siagon usually asked for strange things; Monday was shopping day, and Tuesday was 'testing day'. I had to remind myself not to eat or drink anything I didn't make myself on Tuesday. After all, you never knew what would happen. One day you could be buying powdered lizard bone, and the next, you could drink something you thought was strawberry soda and grow donkey ears. Saigon was a full-fledged witch, and I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to be her student in the art of potion- making. "We've got to get some eagle feathers, a gilded spoon, some frog's legs, and some cherry marmalade. Gee, I wonder what she's up to this time."  
  
"She said that she was going to test the magical properties of Rito feathers against eagles'," Link said, as if he was quoting and actually had no idea what it meant. Yep, that sounded like Saigon. I pulled the gondola up to the dock, got out, and asked the guy there to hold it. Link followed me as I walked a ways down the 'sidewalk', and up to a shop with a sign to the side of the door. It looked like it had been vandalized several times, since people's initials were etched into the wood and the oak was cracked horribly in several places. The sign itself was tidily whitewashed and declared in hand-painted scarlet:  
  
RAMOYA'S GENERAL STORE  
NONE OF THIS NONSENSE, PLEASE  
  
It was that sort of sign that made you sure that you'd like the person within before you even entered through the 'door' which was really more of a curtain made from turquoise and ebony beads. "Whoa," Link said as he stepped in. I laughed. The way everything was arranged, it seemed that you could probably find anything you could ever want in this one little room. I don't know how it was possible, but it seemed tidy and dusty and lived in all at once. The place smelled of old spices and pansies. There was a barrel of sodas near the front, some cages with animals in them at both sides, and all sorts of instruments, foods and seemingly useless junk all over seven or eight shelves of different woods and styles. I quickly spotted a gilded spoon on a cedar shelf between some oatmeal and a live squirrel, which chirred softly at me as I took the silverware. Link found a few white eagle feathers in a decoupage jar near the dusty window, and a small container of marmalade on the floor. He began searching for frogs' legs, quite clueless on where he would find them, and rounded a corner. There was a loud birdlike yelp.  
  
"Ah, take that, scoundrel! Don't you poke around here no more! I reckon you've STOLEN all you've been wantin'!" I recognized it as Ramoya's voice and slid around the corner. Ramoya was a large, usually kind woman of about thirty who always carried a broom with inscriptions written all over it. What I saw around the corner made me realize why.  
  
Link dangled by his collar from a clenched, dirtied fist, and Ramoya was hitting him repeatedly on the head with the handle of her broom. He winced and let out a small cry every time this happened.  
  
"What are you doing?!" I yelled, exasperated. She paused (without dropping Link) and looked over at me. Link immediately began struggling, and she put him down. He looked at her cautiously, took a step towards me, and was captured again by the tip of his ear. She her broom against the wall near an old package of chocolate, grabbed both of his wrists in her one huge, free hand and held them behind his back, and he twisted a moment before he realized that it was bringing nothing but pain to the base of his ear.  
  
"What gives- owch...- Let me go! I didn't- ah- do anything!" he tried to protest between exclamations of pain. Ramoya looked down at him with a very harsh grimace, which was very effective due to her large nose, somewhat crooked teeth, and fiery eyes.  
  
"Hello, Anni! Didn't 'spect ter see you here," She said, trying to sound cheery while tightening her grip on him. Link ceased, winced, gasped and grit his teeth. "As you can see, I'm a bit busy now. This little scoundrel's been terrorizin' this here gen-ral for since Sat'rday mornin', an's about time I got the silly pest!" Link made a sort of pained, puzzled expression.  
  
"Excuse me?" I said. "Link hasn't even been in Boulviddar since yesterday, much less here!"  
  
"Oh, yes he has! Believe me, I saw him run straight out that there door with a bundle of selene straw and a quart of unicorn blood from my most expensive stores!" Ramoya gave me a sharp glare.  
  
"Those are the base ingredients in transformation essences..." I mused. Selene were mythical mixtures of turtles and bears with a crop of wheat growing on their backs all year. Link gave me a look which clearly said: 'Um... Are you going to do something about this?'  
  
"I am fully aware of their magical properties. Funny thing is, the night before Saturday my supply in those particular items seemed purty small as is," the big lady informed me. Her captive let out a sigh as she loosened her grip again.  
  
"Well... Are you sure it was him, exactly?" I was unused to situations such as this.  
  
"Shore he is! Who else has yellow hair and pointed ears, and those fiery red eyes? Don't see red eyes every day; He's purty easily recognized, I'll tell you."  
  
"Red eyes? I'm afraid Link's eyes are GREEN..." I pointed out. Ramoya let go of his ear, spun him around, and looked into his deep emerald eyes. Link sighed in relief.  
  
"Ah, what? I'm sorry... My eyes have failed me once more..." she apologized, releasing Link. "But you look so... similar..."  
  
"Er... It's okay, really," he said, massaging his ear and wincing. He managed a rather pained smile and hastily strode to my side, as if I'd protect him somehow.  
  
"Ramoya? Now that that's over, I'd like to get some frogs' legs. Siagon needs them for something or other." I asked.  
  
"They're in the back on ice. You just wait and I'll bring them up," she said, vanishing with a flourish into the back room. Link plopped down on a barrel and massaged the base of his ear.  
  
"Is it... chafing?" I asked, wondering how sensitive pointed ears were.  
  
"Yeah..." he grunted. "I had a burn on this one once, and it blistered for weeks.... Now it's still not up to handle something like that..."  
  
"I think I could help you out," I said, and I looked at the fishing lures on my hat. I found a purple salve in a coil-shaped jar and took it off the hook. "Just a little bit of this- don't sniff it or anything."  
  
"Why not?" he asked, taking the little jar without hesitation.  
  
"It has infusion of dragon heartstring and phoenix tears. I don't think you want your ears to catch fire again, do you?" I mused as he took a bit on his thin square fingertips. "If you were really unlucky, you might grow scales on your forearms, maybe your shins, and growing scales is no gondola ride, I can tell you." He laughed and rubbed the stuff behind his ear.  
  
"How would you know that?" he snickered, putting the stopper back in the bottle.  
  
"Personal experience," I said.  
  
He gave me a glance and then sighed, closing his eyes and going sort of limp. "Oh, man... this stuff works!"  
  
I smiled. "Wouldn't have given it to you if it didn't. I'm sorry Ramoya hurt you... There seems to be a misunderstanding of some sort..."  
  
Link shook his head in a carefree way as if it were nothing as he handed the container back to me, looking foggy-eyed with concentration. "...What's a transformation essence?"  
  
I gave him an awkward look, and he rested his chin in his hand, waiting for an explanation. I sighed. "It's sort of complicated..."  
  
"I'm listening," he assured me impatiently.  
  
"Er..." I sighed. Link seemed determined to hear this. "It's a sort of potion that one makes if one wants to return to his original form... or something like that. Sometimes it's not the original form, exactly... I mean, it doesn't have to be. It can be something one was in a dream, or in the past, or in a wisp of memory- it requires memory to transform- and I dunno..."  
  
"So all you need is memories of what you want to be and some straw and blood?" he said, biting his tongue as he thought.  
  
"Well... Depends on how modern the memory... Sometimes, even when you sort of remember or if you dream something, you can't really recall every detail of it- and that's necessary to the spell, so sometimes one could capture the image of whatever the transformation's meant to be."  
  
"Hmmm... Things sure are suspicious around here." He smiled in spite of himself and stared down at the dusty wood floor. He was now sort of perched on top of the barrel, one of his knees hugged up close to his chest and the other foot balancing precariously on the barrel's edge. His eyes weren't foggy anymore.  
  
"What's on your mind?" I asked. He looked up.  
  
"Oh, nothing... It's just that earlier today we went back to the beach to pick up some things, like Tetra's stuff, and one of her paintings was gone."  
  
"Really?" I sat myself on a crate and swung my legs absently.  
  
"Yeah," He blew his long straw-colored bangs from his eyes, propped his elbow up on his knee and put his chin on his forearm. "She had three framed paintings which hung in her cabin. One of them was a map of the sea with the Triforce marked on it, one was of her mother and all the pirates, and the last was an old peeling drawing of the Hero of Time. That was the one stolen." We thought in silence for a moment.  
  
"Boy, y'all here's purty quiet." Ramoya appeared again from the back and dumped a frozen package of frogs' legs onto my lap. "Here ya go." I almost dropped it since I wasn't really prepared for it at the moment. I paid her with a quick nod. "If that's all you need, I should go organize my spice shelves." She turned to leave.  
  
"No, wait!" Link jumped off of the barrel and took a few steps after her.  
  
"Now, what's it ya need, hon'?" She picked up her broom again, and Link flinched. Then he shook his head and continued.  
  
"Did that kid- the thief, I mean... Did he have a sword with him?"  
  
"Well, yeah, I suppose he did. Lovely thing with a purple hilt and some golden triangles emblazoned on it." I watched Link's left hand curl into a fist as Ramoya turned a corner. "Oh, dear. I'm a forgetful one..." Her face reappeared again around the shelf. "I forgot to ask you... The Tournament's coming up, and Anni, I know you're fond of signing up as a judge for some of the competitions..."  
  
"The Tournament? Oh yeah, sure, I'd like to judge for the fencing," I said.  
  
"Just like every year," smiled Ramoya, pulling a notepad from her sleeve and writing down my name. "How 'bout you, lad? D'you wanna enter the contest?"  
  
Link looked pretty excited, but he gave me a glance. "I dunno. What do you do?"  
  
"Well," I began. "It's a contest that happens each year, and everyone competes in footraces, Boulviddarian fencing and sailboat races- they're pretty brave boys, of course... And whoever wins supposedly gets good luck from Lanir, the forest sprite."  
  
He grinned cockily. "Sounds like fun."  
  
I looked at him warily. Ramoya continued. "Well, if you want to be in, I'll have to sign you up, and there's also the entering fee, 100 rupees..." Link came up with Madame Ebony's reward money and handed it to her. "And just sign your name here," She handed Link another notepad and a quill. He nodded and scrawled down his name. Ramoya grinned and took a look at it. Then she grimaced and glared at Link. "You sure you're not that RASCAL?" She shook her fist dangerously close to his face, and he blinked several times as she shoved the notebook back into his face. I stood up to take a look.  
  
There were three or four names written on the pad. The first two were completely normal, untidily scrawled names. The second two were written in identical handwriting, with a little circle instead of a dot above the 'i'. 'Link' had been written twice.  
  
"But... That's MY handwriting!"  
  
I grabbed Link by the wrist and, dragging him with one hand and carrying the things in another, dragged him out of the store. Link had been right; "Things sure are suspicious around here."  
  
`~*~`  
  
Medli and I sat on the porch that evening, among the appearing starlight. The wind, which should've been calm and cool at this time, was rampaging about the yard, creating dust devils. I had my old scarlet guitar on my lap, and I was picking out that tune I'd heard not that long ago. It seemed so old and vaguely familiar, as if my mother had sung it once to me over the cradle. Medli was embroidering something in the design of a great purple and scarlet bird, and she was quietly listening to my mishaps. I began softly singing the words, and gradually got stronger. They seemed so familiar somehow twisting and blending with the chords of my guitar:  
  
Stay close, stay close,  
Hear the river rush,  
Never fear my friend,  
Spring shall come again,  
  
In the night, in the night,  
When all hope is lost;  
Huddle up close to me,  
Share the warmth!  
  
"Anni, what is that? It's beautiful," Medli murmured, turning an orange eye at me and then concentrating on her work once more. I smiled down at my guitar.  
  
"Something I heard in a dream," I answered. I looked back up and jumped a bit. Epona had suddenly and silently appeared, her neck stretched over the fence. Her ears were turned intently toward me, and she pawed the ground impatiently. I reached out cautiously and gave her a pat on the nose. She snorted, but let it go. "You were in my dream too, Epona."  
  
"Anni, you have a gift," Medli said, laying her sewing to the side and pointing her beak up at the sky to scan with eyes full of the young stars' reflections. "There has to be some magic in that music, if you can carry it over from a dream. The songs you hear from the heart and mind are always the sweetest."  
  
"Yeah, I know," I said looking toward the sky also. "Medli, I have something to ask you." I didn't look at her, knowing that she was listening. Epona shook her mane.  
  
"What is it?" she asked in her dove-like tones.  
  
"Well, earlier this afternoon... I told Link that I thought the wind was bothersome, and... D'you think I offended him?" Medli looked at me.  
  
"But of course you offended him!" She smiled thoughtfully, looking intently at the dust devils in the yard.  
  
"How? I don't think it makes any sense..."  
  
"It doesn't," she sighed. "Not at first anyway... But that's not the point. The point is, if you want to know something about Link, you really should be asking him yourself." She thought a moment and added. "I suppose that applies to everyone else, too. I'm afraid I'd explain everything wrong..."  
  
"Please tell me! There's no danger in me knowing, is there?" I tried to persuade her.  
  
"Oh, not at all... But you still really should ask Link, or maybe Tetra..."  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "Why Tetra?"  
  
Medli sighed and gave me a sheepish sort of smile. "I don't know. It's just that she and him seem connected... somehow, and- and she's more than what she seems. She's got a good heart and, well, she's just more than a pirate- a valuable friend. She's too, well, good to be just any of that, I suppose..."  
  
"I know that," I said, beaming absently. "Well, if you won't tell me any of that, how about this Triforce thing everybody's always talking about?"  
  
She looked sort of stuck in a place she didn't like too much. "Well... It's common legend in Hylian texts, but then again, all of us- well, Link, Tetra, Makar and I at least– have a little bit to do with it, I suppose. The Master Sword's story is the same and different, and I suppose it's Link that merges the two..." She looked into the distance and said; "I have a tendency to confuse myself every once in a while, and I think it's happened again... I'm literally bird-brained, I suppose." I laughed. I remembered all the events that had happened earlier this afternoon and sighed.  
  
I heard some loud conversation behind the open door, and we both reluctantly got up and went inside.  
  
"Whoa. I mean, I can't tell who THAT is, but with everyone else it's pretty clear," Tetra was saying. Everyone was crowded around her, so Medli and I couldn't quite see what was going on.  
  
"C'mon, Tetra! That's ME!" Link said. There was a sound of crackling parchment and he turned around. He was holding a piece of paper, which he examined closely.  
  
"She exaggerated your ears," Tetra grinned.  
  
"She has good reason to, though," Link mused. "And she did it to you, too, so I wouldn't be bragging,"  
  
I noticed my backpack lying forlornly on the floor, papers spilling out, and I suddenly realized what had happened.  
  
"Tetra, did you raid my backpack?" I said, annoyed, scooping up all the stray papers and shoving them back in.  
  
"I was curious about this 'school' place, so I decided to 'figure it out'. I'm a pirate, after all." She smirked. "You drew little pictures of us all over everything, so isn't it our business?"  
  
I sighed. I had doodled on all of the homework I'd done that night. My subtraction was crowded with Tetra and the pirates sneaking about (the reason there WAS subtraction), Medli sat idly near my name, Komali and Makar hovered near my essay on ecology, and Link was drawn several times in different poses wherever there was room at the bottom of a page. I blushed.  
  
"Oh, look," Medli ran forward and scanned the pages with a quick smile. "Aren't they lovely? I didn't think we looked this nice to anyone."  
  
"Medli, speak for yourself," winked Tetra.  
  
"My teacher doesn't think so," I laughed, ignoring Tetra and remembering the many times she'd scolded me on doodling.  
  
"Well, we need to teach Ms.Whatsername a lesson, don't we?" grinned Tetra. Link punched her in the shoulder.  
  
"Well, actually..." I tapped my toes uneasily on the floor, remembering the essay I'd written about them. "I got myself into a bit of a situation today..." This led to an entire retelling of how Ms. Koholint had thought my writing was fantasy, and how I could possibly bring them to school. I was hoping Link would be intrigued, and thankfully he was.  
  
"Well, sure Anni. I'll come with you tomorrow," he assured me. My guess was that he didn't like to get me into trouble.  
  
"I'll come too," snapped Tetra.  
  
"Tetra, why? You aren't really interested in these sorts of things, are you?" he asked, rather unconvinced.  
  
"It's not about ME, it's about YOU," she said rather forcefully to him. She winked and wagged a finger. "Can't have you getting yourself into trouble, now can we?" Link rolled his eyes.  
  
"Tetra, you and I both know that I wouldn't be the one getting into trouble." Tetra stopped in mid-wag and folded her arms across her chest.  
  
"Okay, so this is another one of my schemes to check things out... What'cha gonna do? Stop me?" We laughed.  
  
Medli sighed. "I suppose I'd better go, too. Otherwise these two could get you into worse trouble."  
  
"Medli, you don't have to do that," I said, smiling so that she'd know that I appreciated it.  
  
"You wrote about me in your essay, didn't you?" She looked at me with an all-new, almost Tetra-like glance. It was probably more reasonable looking than Tetra's, of course.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"It's hard to believe something like a Rito exists unless you see one, am I right?" For once, it was she that had control, and not Tetra. I was amazed. Medli hadn't seemed to have such a side.  
  
If only Ms. Koholint knew what she was in for tomorrow!  
  
`~*~`  
  
The next morning, Link joined me on a couch in the library, rubbing his side. He wasn't wearing his green tunic, but rather a blue sweater with a lobster design on the front, orange capri pants and a pair of sandals.  
  
"The stuff I used to wear on the island," he explained. "I didn't really want to weird out your classmates or anything, so I remembered that Grandma sent these with me."  
  
I laughed. "You look really cute," I said, and his ears and nose turned pink.  
  
"Seagull-feathers," he muttered. I hadn't realized that his neck was as delicate and slender as it was, or that his feet were as small and callused as they were. I supposed it was from wearing his boots without socks and slipping around in them so much.  
  
"So, you haven't been to school before, huh?" I looked around, wondering where everyone was.  
  
"Not really," he said thoughtfully. "I was once friends with a teacher named Miss Marie on Windfall Island. She taught a little school there- Miss Marie's School of Joy." I let out a bitter laugh.  
  
"Sounds a bit different from the attitude around here." I took the "LZ" from the coffee table and flipped through it with only enough concentration to make sure I didn't rip one of the wafer-thin pages. Automatically, Link scooted several inches closer and slipped a finger between two of the pages. "There's a bunch of jerks at my school that live to pick the living heck out of you."  
  
"I'll be fine," he assured me, poring over one of the pictures in the old scarlet book. He obviously sensed the worry in my voice. I shrugged and looked at the picture- and wrinkled up my nose.  
  
"Eww... That's disgusting..." Link laughed.  
  
"What are you talking about? Oh...Do you mean Ruto?" He put the tip of his finger on a fish-girl on the page. She was standing with her hands on her hips, seeming to be scolding next to the green-clad Link, who was sitting in a daze on some sort of pink ground, rubbing his head and covered in a clear liquid that seemed to cling to his clothes. Ruto looked really weird, whitish and scaly with a huge fish's tail.  
  
"Well...yes- but no. I mean... Din, where are they?"  
  
He grinned, a bit uneasily. "In the belly of a giant fish."  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, that explains a lot... Sort of..."  
  
Link shrugged. "Well, we read a lot without you yesterday... Y'see, you know Link was the Kokiri without a fairy?" I nodded. Maybe he didn't realize that I was as interested as I was. "The guardian of the forest, the Great Deku Tree, sent him one, Navi, because he could sense evil in his roots. Then Link went and killed Gnoma, the arachnid that ate away at the tree, and then was cast away by the rest of the Kokiri because the Deku Tree died anyway. The tree left him the Kokiri Emerald and a few words on his destiny, so Link set out to find Princess Zelda."  
  
"You mean Princess Zelda as in the kid's story? Y'know, with the prince and the evil wizard... The one that says each princess of Hyrule is to be named Zelda?" I thought a moment and realized that this was a particularly dumb thought, considering that the original Zelda slept for the rest of eternity, and that every princess and queen was named Zelda. Link looked confused.  
  
"I don't know, really. I think this is a different Zelda than that." He took a moment to straighten out his thoughts. "So I guess Link couldn't get into the castle, and a ranch girl named Malon helped him get through the guard...." Here he paused and looked me hard in the eye as if he were searching for something. Then he abandoned this and continued. "He talked with the princess and made an agreement to save the world from the evil Ganondork- I mean Ganondorf, thereby promising to get the other two Spiritual Stones.  
  
"The second stone was hidden in the mountains, kept by a rock-eating race called the Gorons. Link defeated the King Dodongo by feeding it bombs, and the Gorons were once more able to go into his lair and harvest stones. Darunia, the leader of the Gorons, willingly gave him the Goron Ruby. So, now he's gone to the Zora race for the third stone and realized that the Princess Ruto has been swallowed by their deity, Lord Jabu-Jabu."  
  
"Naturally, he has to rescue her," I finished. He shrugged and nodded.  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
"Link, is that all you talk about anymore?" Tetra's voice came from nowhere. She leaned an elbow on the couch. She was still brushing her hair out. It was longer than one would suspect with it being in that bun all the time, and very, very gold. It flowed like water over her fingers as she tried to tame nonexistent knots.  
  
"Oh, good morning Princess Ze-err...Tetra." Link said cheerily (and rather nervously toward the end). Tetra gave him a startled sort of glare.  
  
"You really do have that on the brain, don't you?" She snarled. "Hold this." Tetra dug around in her pocket, produced a simple, worn brown hair tie and dropped it onto Link's page. "And Link, you're lucky you didn't call me that, because the next time you do, I'm going to make sure that you and the catapult have a reunion." She couldn't help but smile a little when Link shuddered. Not really her sort of smirk, either.  
  
"It's because you have your hair down," he said hastily.  
  
"Not... Anymore..." She grumbled as she began piling her hair back on top of her head. "Give me that." Link sighed and handed her the hair tie, which she doubled around her bun. She let out a satisfied little grunt and strode over to a chair, which she plunked into.  
  
"Tetra, where is everybody? I mean, I know you were awake, 'cause my side's still smarting, but what about Medli and Makar? They usually wake up really early," Link mused, putting the old red book back on its place at the coffee table.  
  
Tetra yawned. "Oh, them? Saigon said that Makar's violin couldn't be fixed by the repair shop owner because the strings were made of a special sort of bark fiber, so they went out to find it themselves."  
  
"I can't imagine looking for that this early," I said absently. "I hope that Medli comes back before we have to leave..."  
  
"She will," Link said, nodding vigorously. "She's not one to be late for anything." I shrugged and adjusted the yellow bandanna around my neck, playing with the lead bead that held it in place. I looked up at the old grandfather clock's ivory face. At least she had plenty of time to get here. There was a knock on the other side of the door.  
  
"Come in," we chorused. Aunt Saigon appeared, accompanied by Medli, Makar and Komali and carrying a tray of toast and six varieties of jam.  
  
"Hey guys! Didju find what you were looking for?" I asked. Makar gave Medli a glance, and she grinned pleasantly.  
  
"Yes, it was a success," she said, nodding vigorously.  
  
"It took me a while to get it back in tune," the Korok said a bit shyly, producing his violin from nowhere as if he were a magician. The instrument belittled him immensely- the bow was twice his height and he had to hold it as one usually would hold a cello or a bass.  
  
"How'd you manage to tune by yourself- I mean, without another instrument?" I asked.  
  
"When the Great Deku Tree made me and my violin, he gave me a wonderful sense of hearing and tune. No one else makes any music at Forest Haven, so I had to be able to tune it on my own." Makar explained, carefully retesting all four of his strings.  
  
"Makar, that's not true," said Link with his mouth full of toast. He swallowed. "I remember Koroks singing when I saw the ceremony." Makar did what you could call a shrug.  
  
"What makes a difference? It works now!" he said with a grin on his voice. He tapped what you could call his toe twice and began to play. It sounded wonderful- at some places the bow moved so fast I was afraid that both the instrument and the musician would catch fire. It was the most skilled bowing I'd ever heard. Link was tapping his sandaled foot on the floor absently, and Tetra simply cradled her head in her arms and lay back with her eyes closed and a slow, leisurely smile appearing on her face. When he ended, we all clapped.  
  
"Din, Makar, I missed your music and I didn't even realize it!" Tetra said, opening just one of her eyes.  
  
"Oh, it makes me remember the times we spent together on Tetra's boat, making duets and playing the Aria and Lyric!" Medli said, her eyes bright with nostalgia. "I hope we can get my harp fixed soon so that we might do it again..." Makar nodded.  
  
"That would be splendid," he agreed, bowing absently at his violin in the same fashion most people twiddle their fingers.  
  
"D'you think that you could get it done right after school, Anni?" asked Komali.  
  
"I think so. Why not?" I smiled. I took a glance at the clock. "We should leave pretty soon..."  
  
Tetra leapt from the couch. "What say we get going, then?" I laughed, not knowing that she was so eager. I reached over the edge of the couch and found my book bag, a tan burlap pouch that hung over one shoulder, and stood up. Link was beside me immediately.  
  
We bade everyone goodbye, and left them. Aunt Saigon simply sat by, thinking very hard with her opal eyes wide, wide open and a grimace on her face. 


	12. Santa's Little Helper VS Bigfoot Par I

AN: Hi! This chapter will be divided into two parts so that I won't keep you waiting longer than you have, although I'll admit I stopped at a horrible spot. I'm SO sorry it's taken so long. I've been trying to get to this part of the story for the last two chapters. I've been distracted for the last five thousand months (how can I say that with a straight face? .) with a bout of the cursed writer's block (and it's been a busy summer so far), so it might seem a little rough, though I doubt dead- in both parts combined, anyway. The 'feather' scene was something I came up with right after the last chapter. As for the school scenes, they're fairly new to the altogether storyline... I think the earliest versions might've appeared in early December, but it's hard to tell since it's one of the scenes I've kept subconsciously... I have some of my modest doodling on ZeldaLegends.net's fan-art section (under Malon Aniku, of course). However, if you really want to see something that'll blow you away, look under Dan Heron's profile and look at his sketch of Anni and his Photoshop portrait with a quote from the first chapter! "."   
  
We sat in the gondola, letting the current take us down the way to the school. Medli let her hand ride outside the boat in the current. Tetra was simply eying the sky with her head cradled casually behind her head, and we all said few words. It was a splendid day, and no one seemed to want to interrupt it with chit-chat. Soot-black guay birds cawed in the trees on the outskirts of town, which were tall and green and whispering as the breeze flew through them, and the wind itself was a mystery, seeming to be excited and ready, overturning every leaf as if looking for something and turning absent whirlwinds.  
  
"Link, you've got something on your sweater." I had pushed up the brim of my hat and noticed as the sun shone into my eyes. He looked at me, then down at himself.  
  
"What? Where?"  
  
"On your sleeve, there." It was a small, yellow feather.  
  
"Hey, there's two on this side," Tetra pointed out.  
  
"And a couple are here right below your neck," said Medli.  
  
He took the first one and pulled on it a little. It didn't come off right away. He pulled a little harder. "Ow! Holy Din, what the-" Still gritting his teeth, he rolled up his sleeve a bit to find that there was a small patch of down and short feathers growing there. "What in all the Great Sea? Right when I thought I'd experienced it all, I start growing feathers?" The funny thing is, he didn't look the slightest bit scared, but rather, he wore a small frown as if he'd just discovered a mosquito bite. Tetra reached out to touch it, and Link simply glared at her.  
  
"It looks fuzzy, okay?" She withdrew and, with her arms folded across her chest, she gave me a questioning look. I smacked myself in the forehead.  
  
"Oh, DIN, I forgot... It's my fault I didn't warn you..."  
  
"What is it, Anni?" Medli inquired softly.  
  
"Today's Tuesday."  
  
"So? Unless I've missed something somewhere back, Tuesday happens every week, doesn't it? - I mean, without the feathers and stuff," Tetra mused. I couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Tuesday's when Aunt Saigon tests her potions. She's a witch," I explained. "And if you eat or drink anything she gives you, you're almost certain to turn into something, or grow something... Y'know?" Medli and Tetra quickly looked themselves over. "I think she might've put something into the cherry marmalade that we bought yesterday."  
  
"That makes sense, 'cause that's what I had," Link murmured, wincing a little as he plucked another feather. They seemed to be spreading. "Well, d'you know how to fix it? Because as enjoyable as this may be-" He plucked yet another feather. "I don't want to be a canary before the day's out, y'know?"  
  
"Of course I know how to get rid of them. But I'm afraid plucking them isn't it," I smiled. "See? They're growing back." I took a small jar filled with a clear liquid from the brim of my hat. Rubbing a drop or two of this on my hands, I murmured the short spell and put my hands on both his forearms. The feathers seemed to dissolve, and after a moment, disappeared altogether. Link shivered a little.  
  
"Thanks," he said, rubbing his forearms experimentally, and then the space between his shoulder blades. He sighed and put his hands back on his knees. "What an interesting way to start the day."  
  
Tetra let out a bitter laugh. "Thank Din I like grape jelly."  
  
The schoolhouse was the only building inside the city limits (the Spilled Goblet was far out in the country) that was built on land. I supposed it had been a hill at one time, and then when everything flooded, it had turned into a small island. However, it was a pretty little place, with the long grass flowing against it and the whitewashed picket fence surrounding most of it so it was mainly inaccessible from the gondola until we reached the gates. I thanked the boatman with a nod of my head.  
  
Already, kids littered the yard, playing jump rope or taptim. "We'd better go straight inside," I said, rushing them along a bit. I loved how Link seemed so curious about everything, as if everything contained a bit of sweet knowledge. I actually followed his glance, and was very surprised when I found myself walking into a great wall of flesh. I looked up a few inches and saw Reuben, one of the bullies that menaced the schoolyard.  
  
"Well, Malon, whaddo we have this year?" he smirked down at me. I adjusted my pack's strap haughtily.  
  
"Don't call me Malon," I said to his great pimpled face. I hadn't the faintest idea why he thought he was so cool when he looked and acted like a forest ape. His head was shaved next to bald, he wore no shirt or shoes, and his deep red vest and jeans were ripped and not patched.  
  
"Heh." He tilted back his head and laughed. "Last year you brought manitory foals, and this year you're bringing elves."  
  
My mouth dropped open. "Reuben, first off, it's 'MANTICORE' not 'manitory'. And I dare you to call one of them "Elf" right to his face." I should've known. He of course, walked right up to Link and called him 'elf' right to his face.  
  
Link was standing there watching some third and fourth graders playing taptim with his back to us. Reuben strode up to him and raised his huge fist to punch Link in the shoulder, but the islander sensed him and grabbed him by the wrist. He twirled around and smiled up- almost innocently- at the large, confused nitwit. "Hello," Link said pleasantly. Reuben shook off any shock he may have had.  
  
"I should've known... Elves are always cheery, aren't they? You should know, Santa's Little Helper. Did you like it up there at the North Pole? Elf." I rolled my eyes. Reuben was SO bad at ridiculing people after they threw him off guard. Link looked a little confused.  
  
"Huh?" Link said, genuinely puzzled. I snorted, trying to hold back a stray giggle. Reuben shook his hand free and walked past me into the school. I was still grinning, and he saw me.  
  
"It ain't funny, A-NEE-KU," he grumbled, shoving me so that I stumbled a bit. Link was immediately at my side. He looked up at me with his puzzled green eyes.  
  
"Anni, what's an elf?"  
  
"Well, I never!" said Medli for the fifth time. I sidled to the back of the class and hung up my hat and pack.  
  
"Yep, that's what an elf is," I said, shaking my head. "Mind you, Reuben still reads kid's books with elves in them."  
  
"Link, you should've shown him that you're not some.... Happy midget SHOEMAKER! Honestly, if he'd said that to me," Tetra let out a long growl.  
  
"I didn't know what it meant, and I didn't want to get Anni in trouble, okay?" Link said, rubbing his forearm absently. "He's like a big, stupid Moblin. You can ignore 'em pretty easily."  
  
I rolled my eyes. "If he bullies you, take it as a compliment," I said. "It means he's fascinated with you." Link and Medli let out short, bitter laughs.  
  
Tetra was oblivious to me. "You can NOT ignore Moblins."  
  
"Can too."  
  
"STOP IT!" Medli unfurled her wings as quick as fans, and all of us jumped. "Arguing about that sort of thing in this sort of place is pointless!" She pulled them in again slowly with a sigh. "And we don't want to give a bad impression, do we?" Link shook his head. She turned to Tetra, who was looking up at the ceiling for no reason I could see. "Do we?" Tetra rolled her eyes.  
  
"I guess not," she said uncertainly. "But when people have to tease each other... Grrr... it makes me SO MAD!"  
  
"You tease me all the time," Link reminded her cautiously. Tetra winked dangerously, and he stepped back a little. If anything ever frightened him, it was Tetra.  
  
"I...I just don't like it happening to me, okay? Or you. Or anyone else. Especially if it's about something dumb, like your height."  
  
"Or your ears," reminded Medli.  
  
"Or your attitude!" I added. "But Reuben's just an idiot. He has an entire gang of thugs to remind him to breathe." I turned and led them to my desk. It was a one-room schoolhouse, with kids from first to seventh grade, and as it was near time for school to start, everyone was beginning to take their places. I sat down, and the others stood forlornly to the side. Quickly, I whipped out a bit of parchment from my desk and began to sketch aimlessly, wishing for an idea to come into my mind. Immediately, I felt the familiar feeling of several people watching over my shoulder. I smiled to myself.  
  
I, carefully and quietly, began to construct the "stick person" guidelines for someone running straight toward the viewer. I hated foreshortening, but I realized that I wasn't as bad as I thought I was at doing it. It's funny how an idea can spurt from nowhere.  
  
"So I see you brought your friends, Malon." I jumped along with anyone with me. Ms. Koholint had a nasty habit of sneaking up on you. I sighed and looked up from my sketch.  
  
"Yeah, well, once Link volunteered, the other two jumped right in," I commented. Link politely bowed his head, Medli did a small curtsey, and Tetra simply said "Hi" with a hand on her hip.  
  
Ms. Koholint smiled slightly and scribbled something down in the grade book she always carried with her. She'd taught so many years that even Medli's beak didn't astound her much after the first glance- a characteristic I wasn't fond of at all. She began to walk off absently. "Wait!" I said. "Where are they going to sit?"  
  
"Yes," said Medli. "Please, surely you don't expect us to stand all day." Tetra plunked down on a third grader's desk, and Link glared at her. He scanned the school room.  
  
"How about that bench back there by the coat closet? It looks large enough to seat us all, and since Anni sits at the edge, we can fit it just to the right of her desk," Link said, eying the back of the room and gesturing vigorously with his hands.  
  
"What bench?" said Ms. Koholint, following Link's glance and adjusting her glasses. "Oh, THAT bench. I'm afraid it's a bit heavy, and it'll be hard to move." Link walked over to it and tried to lift an edge, but failed. He looked a bit confused until he looked at Medli, who cleared her throat and rubbed at her wrists as if adjusting bracelets. He sighed. Tetra eased herself up off of the desk (the third grader had looked very forlorn when he had found a pirate on his table) and, rolling her eyes a bit as if it were the obvious answer, snapped her fingers. Gonzo and Senza ran from nowhere to her side, as if she'd summoned them from thin air.  
  
"Tetra! I thought I told you to leave those guys at the Spilled Goblet!" Link groaned. She smirked in spite of herself.  
  
"Just move that bench over here," she said, absently gesturing with waves of her hands. Then she turned to Link. "I tried to tell them, but y'know Gonzo can't deal with being more than thirty feet from me." Link just sighed.  
  
"Tell them to stay outside," he murmured, watching them position the bench with spite, as if he could've done it just as well himself.  
  
"Don't worry, I will." She sat down on the bench and swatted at the pirates when they tried to fuss over her. I took a quick glance around the room and realized most everyone was staring at her. Most were giggling behind hands or whispering to friends, and I noticed Link's ears were beginning to get pink. He tapped her shoulder, and she looked up and blushed along with him. I began drawing again to distract them from feeling on the spot, and luckily, it worked. "Gonzo, get away from me, for Din's sake! I can barely breathe here," I heard Tetra say over my shoulder.  
  
The rest of the morning went quite well. Link and Medli participated regularly in class, answering questions, Tetra sat and daydreamed, and nothing was out of the ordinary except the fact that people were gawking and whispering about beaks and pointed ears behind our backs. The real trouble started at the first recess, after Reuben had told all his friends about the "elf" that had somehow defied him.  
  
Link was just walking out the door when Lingo, the shortest and slyest of Reuben's thugs, stuck out a leg to trip him. Link completely ignored the foot and jumped over it casually with a small smile on his face, as if it was a sort of daily custom to jump over the threshold of a door. Medli giggled as she did the same, and Tetra was careful to kick Lingo's shin with the back of her foot as she landed. He, of course, drew in his leg and cursed, which we all found very amusing. Link closed his eyes and whistled absently, and the wind that rushed and shook around us seemed to be laughing out loud in an impish sort of whisper.  
  
I immediately led them to the taptim field. It was a sort of unwritten law that I had to pitch for the older games, and kids can get sort of restless when things aren't done straight off. Link looked curious, so I began to explain the rules to him. "See, I throw the ball, and the hitter tries to hit it with his n'hoe, that big board. He gets five tries, and if he doesn't get a hit in that time, he has to sit out for the rest of the game. But that doesn't happen much." Link nodded, half of him paying attention to what I was saying quite intently, and the other half watching the kids warming up in the field.  
  
"What happens if he does get a hit?" he asked.  
  
"Well, then he runs. You see those two tall baskets out there?"  
  
"Yeah." He seemed to be able to tell that this was the good part.  
  
"He takes his n'hoe and runs to either basket. When he gets there, he puts his n'hoe in so that it touches the bottom, and then he's safe." I couldn't help but gesture for emphasis. "But there'll be people out in the field, too. If the ball goes into the bushes, the runner's free to run to the second basket, and then to the Line to get a point. But if one of the outfield kids catches it on a fly- that means it didn't bounce yet- the runner's out. He's also out if the ball gets into the basket before his n'hoe touches the bottom."  
  
"Oh, I see!" He stared back intently at the field. "So, in the next hit, he runs to the next basket, and in the hit after that, he runs to the Line."  
  
"Yeah, all the time trying not to get out." I smiled.  
  
He looked at me through the corners of his green, green eyes. "And you pitch?"  
  
"Yeah." I looked up at the field and realized that I'd been staring at Link all this time. I shook my head, looked up at the sky, and let my eyes sink back onto him. I sighed, ending a bit with a laugh because Link was watching, and added: "So, d'you want to play?"  
  
He smiled a bit. "Well, yeah... Maybe if some of these kids get to know me, they won't make fun of my ears." He thought a moment. "So much, anyway." I personally thought that after he'd made a sentence of conversation, the kid would never tease him again. He eyed me a little seriously. "Hey, why didn't you ever comment on them? I mean, I appreciate it, but it seems strange that you don't when the others do." I thought a moment, and then smiled.  
  
"I suppose it was because the first time I set eyes on you, I realized that I was beginning to live in a fairytale, and that you weren't the strange one, I was." We turned away from each other a bit and beamed shyly at the ground.  
  
"You're not that strange! I... just, I suppose there's more to me than you think," he said, and winked at me, Tetra- like.  
  
"I think I knew that already." I smiled and winked back at him. "Anyway... Race you to the Line!" And we took off running. If Link's legs were long like mine, he would've beaten me; If my stamina was as good as his, I would've beaten him- but we both reached the Line, with Link only a step ahead of me. I laughed, a bit out of breath, and eyed the teams forming as I took my place at the side of the Line to pitch. I muttered under my breath, trying to figure out which team to put him on, since he was new and might need a little help. I eventually sent him to the team that was most likely to win, so that if he made any mistakes, it wouldn't really make everyone upset. It really turned out to be a bad choice on my part. The other team was glaring at me all through the game.  
  
The truth was, Link was good- VERY good- for someone who had just picked up on how the game went. From the moment he hit the first pitch, I knew I had made a horrible mistake. He was fast, he could hit, and he could jam that n'hoe into that basket as if he were going to pole vault with it. And what's more, he had quite a lot of fun doing it, as if it were a game he'd known as well as the other kids on his team. They overcame their doubt and began to talk to him, at first, a little uneasily, but then with undying enthusiasm.  
  
"So, do you really come from way out there on the Great Sea?" a boy in fourth grade asked, gawking a bit rudely at Link's ears as he came in from his last run. Link took a moment to catch his breath.  
  
"Er...Yeah. It sure is different from this place..." He fogged his eyes, then realized that the kid was still interested and watching him intently. "It was a dinky little island called Outset. Now I realize that it was a sort of prison where one could grow up and never realize that all that wonderful and scary stuff was out there, waiting to be discovered." The little boy's eyes glittered.  
  
"Like pirates?"  
  
Link laughed a bit- he sounded a bit like a seagull cackling when he laughed- and with a small, lopsided smile upon his face, replied: "Seagull- feathers, you mean, like Tetra?" He gestured over to where she sat against the base of a tree accompanied by Gonzo and Senza, looping a piece of string around her fingers absently. "Nah, they're small time. What you need to worry about are those huge sea monsters! Like the giant, wide mouthed Bigocto with dozens of eyes who'll suck you down in a whirlpool and swallow you whole; or Helmaroc King, the bird with wings so wide that they blot out the sun, and two bright eyes glowing at you through the shadow from underneath the helmet he wears on his head! Din, they still give me nightmares..."  
  
"You've seen them?" the kid said, eyes wide. Several of the other boys began watching them talk with interest.  
  
"Yeah, but they're long since dead. Those were certainly battles to remember- I nearly got myself mauled." He shivered a bit. "But they deserved what they got, I suppose."  
  
"You don't mean you killed them, do you?" asked another boy, a sixth grader. Link shrugged and smiled, a little sadly with foggy eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I killed 'em all right. Serves them right, with them kidnapping fairies and all."  
  
"Have you ever seen a dragon?" butted in the younger kid again, gesturing quite enthusiastically. "Did you thrust your blade into his underbelly and carry off the lovely maiden unharmed?" This boy had evidently read one too many fairy tales.  
  
"Well, yes, I've seen one... But why would I want to do that to him?" Link asked, smiling lopsidedly.  
  
"Because he would eat you up in one gulp, or roast you to ash with his fire breath." The kid, upon hearing Link's tone, sounded a bit unsure of himself. The islander laughed, and Medli, who sat sewing in a patch of buttercups not far away, looked up.  
  
"Now, only if you offended him somehow, or bothered him. No one likes a rude person, but dragons despise it quite greatly," she piped up, getting up and tucking her embroidery into the back of her birdlike boot since she was tired of simply eavesdropping on a subject she clearly knew a lot about. "The Great Valoo always took it as a questioning of his dignity. Or that's what he's always told me..." The little boy raised an eyebrow and looked her direction.  
  
"Yeah, this is my friend Medli. She's a Rito, and she knows a lot about dragons 'cause she used to talk to one," Link stepped a bit to the side to share the stage with Medli. I smiled a bit. The taptim game had broken up, and everyone on the field was now listening to Medli talk about her experiences with the dragon. I supposed I wasn't pitching anymore; the game was lost amongst absent chatter.  
  
Tetra had somehow managed to keep her pirates from breathing down her neck. She looked a little forlorn there by the towering oak, so I strode over and sat beside her in the cool shade. Without even looking at me, or showing a sign that she had realized my presence, she said (surprising me a bit); "I bet you five that you can tell me the name of any knot, and I can tie it with this piece of string." At first I was puzzled. "What? You're afraid of a little wager?" I shook my head slowly.  
  
I smiled a bit. "You're on. Five it is." We both dug around in our pockets and produced a blue rupee onto the ground.  
  
"You tell me five knots. If you stump me with one, you get the cash, and if I get all five, I get it, okay?" she said. I nodded. I wasn't a master of knots, but I knew some really tricky ones.  
  
"Okay. Let's see... Can you do the 'dragon in the hole'?"  
  
"Easy. What variation?" She began twiddling the string expertly over and around her fingers.  
  
"'Three loops and a maiden.'"  
  
"The kind one could use to tie up a rolled-up map or sail and a ship at once." From then on, I knew I didn't stand a chance. Tetra- it came from being a pirate, I suppose- was very good with knots; she not only knew the names and how to do them, but how one could use them in real life. She, of course, took the cash at the end, not without a smirk that quickly changed into that soft smile she only used on those close to her. She pocketed the rupees with satisfaction, and looked over to where Link was. "Oh, Din. Bigfoot's at it again."  
  
I wrinkled up my nose. "What?"  
  
"Y'know, Mountain-Boy." I must've still looked confused, since she looked at me plaintively and said; "That jerk who calls us elves." She shuddered a bit, for just saying the word 'elves' disgusted her.  
  
I followed her glance. "Oh, y'mean Rueben? He's probably going to come up with something all new when it comes to Medli. Yay. C'mon, let's go and make sure things don't get out of hand." 


	13. Santa's Little Helper VS Bigfoot Par 2

A.N: Yes, someone's been reading the Enchanted Forest Chronicles (not to mention Harry Potter). Very good series there- Saigon's based very vaguely on Morwen, your wacky, practical witch. I was wondering if someone would get that. I took a while because of camp and other summer things....Those reading my other fic "The Triforce Gathering" may as well wait ("Don't read until X-mas!" . ) because it'll take me a while to finish that second chapter with this one getting to its climaxes. This is a continuation of the last chapter, and I might eventually merge them. Enjoy!   
  
Perhaps Tetra had a reason to call Reuben "Mountain Boy". Even from our distance, his silhouette on the horizon seemed tower as dark and menacing as a peak would from miles away. Two of his thugs accompanied him besides the crowd of kids watching; the lanky Lingo- who had a scornful sort of expression on his face, and the husky Jocusi, who seemed a lot like Reuben, just quieter. They certainly didn't look too happy with Link, but he just stood there, tapping one of his sandals in the dust, thin arms across his petite chest, and an amused smile appearing across his face. "Hoy, Bigfoot. What'cha up to this time?" Medli, who stood behind Link, backed away a bit as Reuben pounded his fist- which was the size and shape of a round loaf of bread- into his other hand.  
  
"What? Does Santa's Little Helper think he's better than me? It's about time you got scared." He pounded his fist into his palm again, and then thrust it toward Link's abdomen. He hit nothing but air, because Link had sidestepped it at the last second. It took "Bigfoot" a moment to regain his balance, and by that time our boy had circled around to the bully's left side. He crouched a little, leaning forward- he was going to be ready the next time.  
  
"Seagull-feathers! You expect me to be afraid of someone who hardly knows how to use what he's got?" Link straightened a little, and his smirk faded. "I don't want to fight you, Reuben."  
  
Beside me, Tetra smacked herself in the forehead. "Din, it was just getting good, and he goes and ruins it just like that." I nudged her.  
  
"He just doesn't want me to get in trouble," I hissed. But by the way Jocusi and Lingo were approaching, and the look on Reuben's face, it seemed that they were far from finished.  
  
"'I don't wanna fight you, Reuben,'" Lingo sneered, running at him, lanky arms outstretched. "What? Is it because you think you might get your cute little ears tied up in a knot?" Link smiled faintly.  
  
"They are rather nice, aren't they?" he said, sidestepping and sticking out a leg. Lingo slid face-first into the dirt.  
  
Tetra covered her eyes for a split second. "OOH... Got 'im with his old trick. Nice." Behind Link, Medli kept backing away, and backed right into Jocusi, who wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her from the ground. She fought and made a real scene of it.  
  
"Looks like I got your chicky-boo, Elf," he chuckled.  
  
Medli paused in her yelling and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that really wasn't funny." Link whirled around and mouthed something at her- she evidently agreed, because she nodded. Jocusi hadn't managed to grab hold of her arms too well, and he sure was surprised when she began flapping her wings and sending up clouds of dust. This sent him back a little, and he was left in a coughing fit on the ground. A few kids gasped in awe as she circled once in the air and landed neatly beside us. "Some people have so much nerve..." she muttered, dusting herself off and straightening her feathers with a shake.  
  
Link scratched the back of his ear with all his fingers in a bored sort of way. Reuben was in shock for a moment. "You think you're hot stuff just because you managed to get those two bums, Elf?" he said eventually, shaking his head and nodding toward the spot where his friends lay in a heap.  
  
Link blew a bang from his eyes; without his hat, his hair could fly anywhere it wanted to. "I dunno... I'm not really sweating." 'Bigfoot' glared and advanced.  
  
"You getting smart with me?" Link put his hands behind his back innocently. He nodded forward, looking just past Reuben. The bully paused and followed his glance. His eyes widened.  
  
Tetra winked at me. "Three... two... one..."  
  
"GAAAH!" Reuben was grabbed from behind by Senza and Gonzo and lifted five or six inches off of the ground by his shoulders.  
  
I sighed. "Tetra, what're you doing?" She ignored me, and strode over to her pirates, polishing her nails on the front of her vest.  
  
"Link, what d'you want us to do with him? I was thinking that we hang him over the canal by his pants, but your ideas work, too."  
  
"Tetra...." He smiled. "Reuben, you probably want down, right?" Tetra looked disappointed and made a face at Link, murmuring under her breath how he was "goody-goody".  
  
Reuben kicked at the air uncertainly. "Er, yes..." Then he got all macho and added. "And I want a rematch. Seven, tonight. Horserace at Gerudo Canyon. And you'd better be there." Link looked like he was going to laugh.  
  
"Yes, I'll be there. Y'know, I'm not going to say you're chicken if you don't want to do it. I mean, you don't have to prove that you're better than everyone you come across; other people decide that, not you." Reuben grunted as if he didn't care.  
  
"Look, don't give me all that noble crud. Just let me down, okay?" Tetra snapped her fingers, and they dropped Reuben into the dust as if he'd just grown as hot as a bunch of coals. Gonzo opened his mouth to ask if she wanted anything else, but she pressed her fingers to his lips and ignored him.  
  
When we got home, Saigon was apparently out on an errand, so I had to take over the restaurant during Happy Hour. I found myself mixing cucco and garlic soup, rolling dough for a t'rou- a type of meat-filled pastry, making artistic appetizers from crackers and peppers, and trying to find the cinnamon all at once. I had a spoon sideways in my mouth while my left hand searched the shelves, my right hand adding beef and spice to the t'rou and my eyes watching the soup and dearly hoping it wouldn't scorch. Link happened to walk behind me with a wooden cup to get a drink from the well, and he set it down on the counter. He hadn't changed back into his tunic yet, but he had put his boots back on. "Y'need any help?"  
  
"I was afraid you'd never ask," I sighed, taking the spoon from my lips. "Could you take that plate of crackers to table fourteen?"  
  
"Yeah, no problem," he nodded, grabbing the plate and leaving the kitchen. In a few seconds he came back. "Er... Where is table fourteen?" I would've smacked myself in the forehead, had I a free hand.  
  
"On the south side of the bar. It's near the painting of McMiylan- the guy with the huge sword. The number fourteen's carved on the edge, so you can't miss it." He nodded again, a little sheepish, and left very swiftly, balancing the tray carefully on his arms.  
  
In a few minutes he rushed back into the room, and his only explanation was this- "They need refills of lemonade." Soon, he was about as busy as I was, hurrying back and forth doing whatever chore the guest asked him to do (and looking for the cinnamon every spare moment). This lasted the whole of Happy Hour and on to five o'clock. When the last guests had left (and Lona and My'chel had finished housekeeping), I leaned against the wall and remembered that Medli had wanted to tune her harp this afternoon. I ran up to the library to find her- that's where Link had gone some time ago, and I was sure that they were reading the "LZ" together.  
  
Yes, there they were with the book open on their laps, Medli squinting at the square-ish text, and Link scanning intently over the drawing that took up almost the entire page. Before I let them notice me, I peered over the edge of the dusty red velvet couch and saw the illustration. It was the hero astride a mare, leaping over an impossibly wide canyon. The goddesses, with feathery painted wings, flew along with him, carrying the horse to the other side. I tapped Medli on the shoulder.  
  
"Oh, hello, Anni," she said, snapping the book shut with a relieved little sigh. Link looked a little disappointed. He grabbed the book, flipped back to the page, and began poring over the picture again.  
  
"Hey, Medli. I was just thinking... Didn't you want to tune your harp today?"  
  
"Oh, yes. I'm ready." She was still wearing her harp on her back, so I led her back downstairs to our old wall piano. The wood was cracking- it was a public piano, so people were always carving curse words and crushes into the varnish. One would think that a piano this old and worn would be deathly out of tune, but Saigon had put a handy little spell on it so that it pulled through all the wear and tear, and so it could still play a song or two. I threw a pillow on the bench, sat down next to Medli, and we began. I would play a note, holding it out long using the pedal, and she would start plucking a string over and over again with one swift finger, while the other adjusted the tightness until the note matched the one I was playing. It didn't take us very long- Medli's fingers were agile, and her ears were sharp.  
  
Afterward, Medli went to fetch Tetra, Makar and Komali while I joined Link in the library. He was now taking a cat nap in a patch of the setting sun with his hat pulled down over his eyes, and I was watching his breath tease his bangs. A moment later, Medli returned with the others. Tetra sat down quite intentionally on Link's middle, knocking the wind out of him and waking him up instantly, and they both squabbled a little before they found themselves on opposite ends of the couch, fuming, separated by Medli with Makar on her lap. Link adjusted his hat sulkily.  
  
"So, Med, did you get your harp tuned up all right?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, Makar and I were thinking about playing the Aria and Lyric," she said, absently fondling with the leaf on Makar's head.  
  
"Why don't you?" he yawned.  
  
"Well..." Medli began to bat her eyelashes innocently. "I was hoping... You could refresh our memory... Outside, maybe." One of her eyelids flickered in my direction- a wink. Link looked a little startled.  
  
"Oh, really?" he said, a little suspiciously. He grinned. "And why would that be?" Medli smiled.  
  
"You haven't done it in a while." She batted her eyelashes again. Link snuck a sideways glance at me, and sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I have to do it sometime..." And he got up from the couch, adjusted his belt, and slid a thin white baton from his left boot. "Well, are we going to go outside, or not?" he asked, twirling the ivory stick absently around his finger. Medli positively beamed in my direction.  
  
We made our way outside. Tetra sat next to me on the steps of the porch, a very vague un-Tetralike smile on her face as she put her chin in her hand. Medli and Makar stood next to each other with their backs to us in the long green grass of the yard- it was filled with the early fireflies, for it was that time of the year. Link stood a few yards away from them, facing us. He breathed carefully on the little baton, polished it on the hem of his tunic, and lifted it, ready between his fingers on his right side. Everything went silent then; even the wind that was blowing paused- no, seemed to pause- around us. The world seemed ready then, eager like racers the split second before a race. When does it begin?  
  
And then it did. It started, as the sound of Medli's harp broke the silence; Link directed her every note with the baton. Then, the sorrowful echo of Makar's fiddle joined in. It was not long before I realized that this wasn't just music- the clouds above moved rapidly eastward, and the grass flowed in great waves among their feet. He wasn't just guiding Medli and Makar- he had a chorus of the elements, a whistling wind that blew and danced as if it were a feathered serpent.  
  
And Link looked divine there, as if he were standing alone, and the wind ruffled against him, blowing his hair and his clothing to the side, rippling. He laughed; and then his eyes caught mine. Fireworks gleamed in them with his fierce, emerald joy. Then it was all clear- the wind was his, and he was the wind's, and by no way would they be divided by petty fright and sorrow. Why hadn't I seen it before?  
  
Beside me, Tetra smiled a little, her blue eyes going silver like storm clouds. She saw the question and discovery in my eyes, and spoke out loud; "It's the Wind Waker, from the ancient times when music was prayer. An old- let's call him a great-grandfather, gave it to him a while back. I suppose he thought Link had a little wind-sense, or something, but it was destiny. Brought us all together; now we're about as close to each other as the wind is to Link. But without the Master Sword, I guess we're a little incomplete."  
  
I nodded, not entirely comprehending what she was saying. Link smiled a bit to himself and slid the Wind Waker back into the side of his boot; the chorus of the elements had ended- too soon, in my opinion. Then again, we did have to get ready for Reuben's horserace.  
  
Link joined us on the porch, his legs stretched out despite the fact that there were stairs. "Where can I find Epona?"  
  
I thought for a moment. "I wonder..." Hadn't Epona suddenly just shown up when I had sung the dream-song? I sang it softly under my breath (receiving strange looks from the others), but a zephyr blew for a moment, carrying a scent of horses, and Link's head turned to the west to meet a majestic and rather confused looking Epona silhouetted in the sunset. He gave me a rather inquiring look, and I smiled sheepishly and shrugged.  
  
"Your mare waits," I beamed, pulling the rim of my hat down to block the sun streaming into my eyes. And as he clambered onto her glistening chestnut back, I whistled for Swiss and slid on to show him the way. Tetra insisted on coming along with me; there was a steely glint in her eye that told the Sheikah part of me that she was worried- and hiding it well.  
  
The Gerudo Canyon was a remote, dangerous ravine, cut into the center of the prairie by the legendary Gargantuan Blade- at least, that's what the stories told. Apparently, after the War Under the Moon, the meadows were flooded with blood, and McMiylan had taken the blade and cut the gorge to drain it into the sea. The great river flowed red for thirteen days, and then the Masked Boy, another figure of legend, had cleared it and made it run eternally fresh. The stones were still stained red along the sides and bottom, and the river still had memory of what it once was, so it still flows angry and desperate to this very day. The trees around it jutted up at strange angles, and there were sharp stones at the bottom of every fall- almost as if to make sure you didn't live to see your next horserace.  
  
I spoke the legend to my companions, and then added; "It's a rather strange and dangerous place for a horserace, really."  
  
"Uh-huh," murmured Tetra, filing her fingernails with her thumb in a bored fashion, as if she wasn't really listening.  
  
Link didn't look that worried either. "Epona's so eager; it's all I can do to keep her from running off right now."  
  
"There're a lot of things out there that can make a horse uneasy, though," I continued cautiously. "I mean, some ledges are barely wide enough for a pony to run on, and there's loose rocks, and loud noises, and- "  
  
"Anni, are you trying to scare us or something?" grumbled Tetra. "'Cause it's not working. I mean, we've dealt with things a lot scarier than a bunch of sharp rocks."  
  
"And things that should've been less scary," added Link. "That terrified us right out of our sandals... er... and boots." Tetra stared in his direction.  
  
"R'you referring to any moment in particular?" she said, winking dangerously.  
  
"Maybe," smiled Link, raising his eyebrows amusedly. "Some of which involving the King of the Castle Under the Sea."  
Tetra swallowed hard, and took a quick glance at me. I must've looked interested, because she said, "Din, you don't want to hear that story."- She laughed, a little nervously- "And anyway, that's not what I was talking about, Link."  
  
Link grinned. "But it was a shock, right?" (I was feeling very left out by this point).  
  
"Be quiet, you little twerp," Tetra growled- Link began laughing so hard I thought he was about to fall off his horse.  
  
I sat up tall on Swiss's back, brushed my hair out of my eyes, and tilted the brim of my hat slightly. "I think we're here."  
  
We neared, and the horses stopped on their own, right on the edge. The crashing of the river was faint and distant where it raged what seemed like miles away at the bottom. We shaded our eyes to peer down into the canyon, where mist rose and boulders of sandstone jutted from the edges- scarlet, as the legend had said. I swallowed hard. The wind twirled through my hair, and I looked up at Link with a small smile, which he returned. "I'll be fine," he assured me.  
  
"Hey, is that Bigfoot?" Tetra asked, pointing over my shoulder.  
  
"What? Where?" I asked. She shoved me in the back of the head.  
  
"It's Reuben, you doof."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Stop it," Link cut in. "He's right there, Anni." Down on a jut of stone over the canyon, right next to a roaring waterfall, stood Reuben, accompanied by his thugs and an enormous black stallion. Epona saw it and turned back her ears. Link stroked her absently on the neck. "C'mon, girl," he murmured, twisting a finger into the coarse hair of her mane. "You won't be able to concentrate on running if you're angry like this." She shook herself and snorted. "There we go. Now how shall we get down th-ERE?!" He yelped, sounding like a seagull that had just crashed into a clean window as Epona leapt out of his control and over the edge to a ledge nearby.  
  
"Uh, that's going to be a problem, right?" Tetra asked, poking me in the back. I watched Epona charge on toward where Reuben stood, and heard the faint yells of Link trying to get her to slow down.  
  
"Er, yeah." I carefully galloped Swiss down on a much safer, if longer route than Epona's. She seemed to be trying to make herself seem like a royal horse, probably to make me compare Epona to her. In ten minutes or so, we joined the others on the ledge.  
  
"So, I see you brought your friends," spat Reuben, slapping his horse. Link was breathing hard, his hair a little windblown, and his body slipping halfway off Epona's back. Epona craned her neck, nuzzled him and tried to adjust him like a backpack. Link saw us, and smiled, a little exasperated.  
  
"Er, hoy," he murmured. I leapt off of Swiss and walked cautiously by Epona's side.  
  
"Link, are you okay?"  
  
"Well, I don't think we'll have a problem with speed," he said, rubbing his head. I laughed a little.  
  
"Hey, we need to discuss the deal here, Elf," Reuben called, looking rather disgusted. Link sat up straight immediately.  
  
"No one said anything about a deal." Link glared, his eyes full of green fire. Reuben kept talking on casually.  
  
"I came up with it this afternoon, when I saw you smuggle some junk out of a few stores. Man, you're the shoplifting king." Admiration filled Bigfoot's eyes.  
  
"Wha? I didn't steal anything!" Link said, confused.  
  
Reuben laughed. "See, you really are good. I wish my lies were that convincing."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"So I wanted to get you to join the team. We could use a sneak like you. I can't believe I used to think you were a puny little puff-ball." He slapped himself on the forehead with a hand the size of a large frying pan.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Look, you'll need to stop playing dumb," he went on, looking a little annoyed.  
  
"What makes you think I would want to join with you?" Link growled.  
  
Reuben grinned. "We have our ways." And before I could comprehend what was happening, I was seized roughly around the wrists and slung over the bulky shoulder of Jocusi, and as far as I could tell with all the cursing going on, Tetra had been tossed over the other. I fought to worm my hand free of his grip; if I could grab one of my guns, I could shoot in the air and shake up the coward a bit- but my fingertip just barely brushed the handle. I cried out in pain as the grip tightened on my wrists, almost tight enough to snap them.  
  
"I don't think you should do that," growled Jocusi through four missing teeth.  
  
Link hunched forward on Epona, his shoulders bent forward, resembling those of a wolfo. The mare's ears were flat against her head. Reuben smirked. "This can be easy, or this can get a little hard," he drawled. "You'll join us, or those girls can get it," I drew in a sharp breath as Jocusi swung us off his shoulders and hung us over the edge of the ravine, holding us out by our wrists. I closed my eyes, tight.  
  
"You said we would have a horserace, and by Din, we're going to have one," snarled Link. "If I lose, then, I suppose I'm yours," ("Man, what a dip", muttered Tetra under her breath) "But if I win, then you let them go, and we'll be on our way." Reuben sighed.  
  
"D'you have to make things so complicated? Okay, but I warn you, Anvil here's a champion."  
  
"Anvil? THE Anvil? I totally forgot he was Reuben's," I sighed.  
  
"That's a bad thing, I'm guessing," Tetra replied, craning her neck to see over the edge.  
  
"Yes. That horse has been winning racing ribbons since he was broken- trained to be ridden, I mean," I explained, remembering that Tetra didn't know much about horses. "He's the rodeo champion, so far."  
  
"Yeah, well, what are Epona's speed scores, then?" she asked, pushing back a slipping sandal with her foot.  
  
"Uh, Tetra, no one has ever really ridden her before until Link came along- she's a champion bronc, remember?" I said, just realizing it myself.  
  
"Oh, yeah...." Tetra laughed, a little uneasily.  
  
I heard Epona snort. "We'll go around the bend, over that bridge-like ledge over there, under that waterfall, and come back over here," Reuben said, pointing out the 'race track'. I heard Link grunt in reply. There was a pause.  
  
"A'kim, A'ki, A'kish, GO!" The voice of Lingo echoed through the canyon, bouncing off the rocks and returning hundredfold. We heard the horses sprint off, unaware of whom was first. Then there were the footsteps of Lingo nearing Jocusi- we were pleased to hear that he was limping a bit. "Da boss says to drop 'em the moment The Elf gets ahead of him. If Link wins, Link gets to suffer."  
  
"It ain't gonna happen," Jocusi said, adjusting his grip on our wrists dangerously.  
  
"Well, if it DOES, then be ready." Lingo ended in an annoyed tone, then rustled for a moment and bit into what sounded like an apple, and knowing Lingo, it was probably a half-eaten one.  
  
"So, are we doomed?" Tetra asked, in the casual manner that one uses to ask about the mail. I shook my head silently.  
  
"I dunno."  
  
It took a few more minutes for the horses to come round where we could see them. It looked like Link had lost control of Epona again; Reuben was a ways ahead of him, on a higher ledge. However, Link was still getting closer and closer to Reuben, and it was rather exciting to the thugs. Lingo shoved Jocusi boisterously. "Be ready, man." Jocusi grunted in reply. I swallowed hard. The hands holding me were beginning to slip- I wouldn't put it past them if they were planning to drop us early. Those rocks below looked very, very sharp... I shut my eyes tightly.  
  
I opened one of them after a while, trying to stop myself from shivering. Tetra caught my eye. "We'll be fine."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
It only took a quick gesture of her neck and eyes to point me in the right direction, and then I made a fruitless effort to close my eyes again. Epona, obviously free of any control, had leapt off of the ledge, across the canyon and right toward us. "B- But how is that possible?" The jump was way too far for a horse to handle.... Or was it? Before I knew what was happening, Jocusi had yelled, I felt myself fall, and Link had somehow swung over the back of Epona and brought us back over the edge, not without dragging us through the dirt a bit- there were scrapes all over one side of my body. Link swung off Epona, got over a bought of dizziness, and helped us up.  
  
"Are you guys all right?" he asked worriedly, trying to dust Tetra off and receiving a sharp smack on the hand. "Ow, here Anni, your arm's all scraped up," he continued, taking off his hat. He tried to wrap it around my arm, which was rather bloody.  
  
At first I refused it. "Link, you don't want to get this all stained, do you?"  
  
"Oh, it's okay- it's had blood on it before." I looked at him strangely. "Don't worry," he added hastily. "It wasn't all mine."  
  
"Oh, that's reassuring," smirked Tetra, punching him playfully in the shoulder. As I wrapped the thick green cloth around my forearm- it felt soothing on my wound because of its texture, and the fact that it was a little warm from Link's wearing it. Galloping in the distance told us that Reuben was returning. His thugs, who had been thrown to the ground out of surprise, tried to get up, but Link made a threatening step toward them, and they cowered instead. As Anvil barreled in, Link asked Tetra silently for her sword, and she gave it to him, a confused expression on her face. Reuben was amazed and angry.  
  
"How did you....?"  
  
Link, whose teeth were grinding more and more, replied, "I suggest you ask my horse, since I don't quite know myself," Epona, who was still Wildfire to Reuben, snorted and pawed the ground. Anvil backed up without signal.  
  
"You... rode that bronc...." Reuben took a glance toward his friends, and leapt off his horse. "YOU. I told you to drop the girls if he was going to beat me!"  
  
"What?" Link's fist curled around the sword angrily. "You were going to kill my friends?"  
  
Reuben walked right up to Link. "Yeah. So I made it interesting. You got a problem with that?"  
  
Link's brow furrowed. "Why, yes, I do." With a shaky hand, he raised the blade, letting the moonlight shine across its entire grim length- and then brought it down and across with one swift movement. Reuben's scream echoed through the canyon, many eyes were wide with horror- and his silhouette sank to its knees. Link's eyes got rather shiny, but you could still see fire in them, glowing beyond the tangible. "Don't you ever threaten my friends again." He looked down at his feet a little guiltily and commenced to wiping the blood off of the sword with the hem of his tunic. "You should be grateful that I don't believe in the killing of my fellow man- you would've ended up worse."  
  
Reuben's bulky form started shaking, and he uncovered his eye to reveal a deep cut just below his eyelid, which was dripping blood all over his hands. He nodded hastily. "I-I won't bother you again."  
  
Link passed the sword back to Tetra, who polished it again, just to make sure. "I should think not. Let's go, guys." He whistled to Epona, who came to him, but not before giving intimidating snorts to all the boys. "Let's just... go." I nodded, mounted Swiss, and passed out pieces of a t'rou for dinner. There was no talking, and I'm not even sure if Link ate his share. Only the gods would know what lay on everyone's conscience that starry night, and I wasn't sure what to think. That night I wasn't to sleep well. 


	14. The Midnight Encounter

A.N.- I think you're going to like this chapter- I do, even though I had to cut one of my favorite scenes to fit the plot -.-' (and it might help out the readers who didn't play the Wind Waker, although I changed a few things for my own preference). Ah, well, every author has to murder her darlings...Oh, and speaking of romance, this has the closest thing to it that'll happen in this story ; There will be no real pairings in this volume (It can't really be Tetra/Link right now anyway, since I'm writing from Anni's point of view, and whatever Tetra and Link do together is pretty much their own business). However, when and if I ever get to the sequel, love/jealousy might be half the plot- I always plan way too far ahead...Oh, and Lizai, I'm not a chess master, but I meant king, because there's no way for Daystar to say "checkmate", and he wanted to be boastful about winning . Avalon, I was still twelve when your review came about ; I changed 13 in the process of writing this chapter, actually.

I groaned and scratched my side._ "Galloping, this early? I must be dreaming..."_ I felt a horse's nose on my hand, and felt the movement beneath me. Rubbing my head, everything came into view. I was riding a young tan pony with a triangular star on his forehead, and beside me ran a female with the triangle on her shoulder. They were both very happy, racing each other through the blurry shadow of the dreamworld with both tail and ears raised high. I straightened up uneasily. I pulled the reins gently, and the horses slowed to a walk. An eerie, transparent fence appeared, and they simply strode through it. I reached out a hand and felt the wood, hard and warm beneath my hand.

My horse stopped, and shook himself for me to get off. When I didn't, he laid back his ears and did it again. _"All right already! Can't you tell when someone's asleep?"_ A little reluctant, I slid off his back, and he nosed me apologetically. I smiled a little, slid my fingers behind his ear and kissed him on the muzzle. The filly behind me stomped impatiently, and I turned to her, saying_ "There's no need to be jealous."_ She flipped her ears and angrily looked away. I lifted a delicate hand to pet her, but to my surprise, fire leapt up in a ring around her, and then there were snarling noises behind me. The other horse was suddenly engaged in a fierce battle with a black wolf with red eyes and gnashing yellow fangs. The colt's eyes rolled angrily, and he fought hard, though the wolf was slowly overpowering him. My eyes widened as the monster flattened itself somehow into a great shadowy hole, which the colt rapidly fell through, fighting hard and disappearing with a loud echo of whinnying. Then the monstrous hole grew smaller and smaller, and then a venomous snake slithered up from its depths. With what could only be a devilish grin, it then began to advance on the filly, who looked about ready to fight as hard as Epona would- but out of impulse, I slid my gun from my holster and shot.

My view vanished as the bullet sank into shadow... _"Pay heed to the happenings we have shown you," _came the voices from the dark. I heard galloping, and a different voice whispered the last words before the dream died a voice with a smile in it. _"You believe in me, and I'll pull through, honest." _

And then I woke to the shadowy windows, stars twinkling in the gloomy light of the moon, and my head throbbing painfully. I let out a soft moan. What was it, eleven at night? Above me, Tetra murmured something in her sleep and turned over, throwing a limp arm over the edge of her bunk. I lay back and tried to relax and get back to sleep, but my haunting dreams and racing thoughts kept me quite awake. What did it all mean, really, the horses, the shadows, the snake- and those voices that sounded so comforting? _Hey, it was just a dream_, I told myself, completely unsure. Quietly, I slid out of bed, gathered my nightgown above my heels and snuck toward the door. Stepping into my boots, I then opened it, expertly avoiding squeaks from the old hinges.

I tiptoed into the shadowy hall, and got the cold feeling that I was being watched. Lines of pale light shone from the windows onto the carpet, making everything striped, and- I hoped- blended me into the night. Portraits of lost heroes, from the cheery wine-drinking scenes to the fights and the romances, peered dully at me from behind painted eyes, and the sounds of guests tossing and turning within their rooms made me jump every time I passed them. One of the doors was open a crack, so I slowly turned the knob and closed it as quietly as possible, even though the click it made as it slid back into place made my heart stop for a moment. Then I proceeded to the stairs.

The stairs at the Spilled Goblet had always been creaky- you could rouse the graves with a few misplaced steps. However, the banister was also very wide, and solid as stone, almost conveniently placed so that one could still get down at night. Getting back _up_ again, well, that was your problem. I seated myself sideways on the banister, as if I were riding a horse to a party in my hoop skirt, and, holding my breath, slid down. Catlike, I landed on my feet and knuckles, right on the rug.

Now I knew I was safe, as long as I stayed on the carpet, so I bolted to the door and found myself outside. Crickets chirped forlornly in the rushes around me, horses stood sleeping in the valley, and a small creek rushed a few feet away. I shuddered a little at the sound of the water, beginning to wonder whether Muu was in a mood to talk or not, seeing as she probably wouldn't know about Link and the others who slept on in the Spilled Goblet. _You'll never know until you check,_ I reminded myself, and kept walking towards the lake.

Muu made her home in Lake Serenity, a sea dragon that happened to be the last creature adopted by my mother before she'd died. She was a young, fairly strange beast, who saw my mother as hers, and therefore was nice to talk to about things like that- or any problem that turned up, really. Sometimes she could be a little, say, out of the ordinary, but then again, so could I. I knelt on the ground for a moment and felt for a stone- throwing one into the water was the only way to summon her up- but I paused for a moment and listened to what was supposed to be the silent night. I thought I heard the faint sound of talking ahead of me, so, out of pure curiosity, I proceeded onward through the shadow.

Near the lake, the talking became clearer, and when I parted the last black branches, I came upon a scene I felt quite guilty to come across. Muu had her head lifted high up out of the water, the moonlight glistening on pale, wet purple scales and glowing whitish green eyes, and the full moon silhouetting every sharp horn and scaly ridge. Her long eyelashes flicked as she nodded. The speaker was Link, perched up on top of an old post, his back arched beautifully and his eyes sparkling bright, as if he were speaking to an old friend. It was so innocent, a perfect picture there against the full moon, with the black waters I had come to dread glistening in and out of view among the rocks.

"There's someone in the bushes there," Muu interrupted, splashing with her tail way out upon the water. Link turned absently, and his eyes brightened.

"Oh, hello, Anni. Fancy seeing you this late at night," He beckoned me over. "Didju' know this sea monster was in the lake?"

"Monster is such a _harsh_ word," Muu murmured, sinking into the water so that only her crest and the tip of her long snout showed above the waves. I chuckled a little.

"Why, yes. My...Mother was the one who kept her here," I answered uneasily.

"Your mother, huh?" He skipped a stone exactly seven times across the lake, deep in thought. "You don't talk about her much, d'you?"

"Sometimes.... It hurts," I murmured, staring out into the depths of the lake and feeling my fist clench beside me. Link brushed the back of my hand with a broad fingernail.

"I wouldn't know what that'd be like... I never knew my mother. Grandma talked about her a lot, but I'll bet knowing her and Pa would've been great..." He shrugged one of his shoulders and chucked another stone at the water, this one landing with a huge splash within the waves. It was funny how he didn't ask more about her, we simply sat in a deep understanding silence and watched Muu stretch herself across the water, wrapping her tail tightly around a rock nearby, and floating belly-up with her feet in the air.

"She was a fine witch, I guess," I said out of nowhere. "Wasn't much of a cook, but obsessed with the study of mythical beasts and such." Link smiled slightly and nodded, so I continued. "She was out rescuing Muu- she was only a weak hatchling then- and the negative scent of a sea storm swelled around us. The clouds were as black as I'd ever seen them. Da, Ray and I were out there on shore calling for her; she was stubborn, refused to come back until the beast was in her boat. I admired her more than ever at that moment, but then the storm began. The wind and water thrashed her about crazily- she fought to stay in her tiny boat but crashed head-on into a rock... The only thing we could find of her is her hat..."

"_Your_ hat," Link said, and I nodded, staring down at my feet.

"Muu came up on shore, looking for Mother... We took her home and fed her off of leftovers."

"I didn't eat much then," Muu added, stirring a whirlpool with the tip of her tail.

"Not much compared to what you eat now," I said, chucking a rock as hard as I could, so the splash played up on the horizon, right up against the moon. "My brother, Ray, began hanging out with different people, ones who lurk in the shadows and smoke their problems away, and Da started drinking again. I still see him at the Spilled Goblet every once in a while, but... well, he scares me sometimes. It goes straight to his head, and he doesn't act like himself anymore. I remember coming home once and having empty liquor bottles thrown at me, and then, I left..."

"To live with Saigon," Link finished, nodding. I flipped a rock off my fist with my thumb.

"Yeah."

He paused. "Can I show you something? Well, actually there're a couple things... Here, follow me." He eased himself off of the post, beckoned me to follow, and led me quickly down the rocky shore. There was a lit place there on a stretch of beach, where a magicked lantern hung high above what I recognized as Link's ship, pieced together partway. I easily picked out the figurehead which had frightened me so on that first day, lying forlornly at the side, away from the upside-down hull. He was repairing it. "When you were at school, we brought back the pieces we could find, and Saigon taught me a wood binding spell so I could fix him."

I took a sideways glance at the figurehead. "Aren't most boats considered 'she's'?"

"Yeah," he replied, reaching into the front of his tunic and producing a slice of bread. "But believe me, I would know. He was the King of Red Lions, and he could talk."

I had no choice but to trust him there. After all, if I had never known Rito or Koroks were real, they would've seemed rather far-fetched too. We both found rocks to sit on, ones worn smooth by the lake long ago.

Amused, I kept the subject going. "What did he say to you?"

"Mostly he just told me to get going, or hurry up, but sometimes we'd just have long conversations. Never let me get on to much when it came to his past, or anything, but still, when you're out on the sea, it's nice to have someone to talk to." He shrugged. "He doesn't talk anymore, though."

"Why's that?"

"That," he said, crumbling some of the bread into his hand. "Would take ages to explain."

I almost laughed bitterly. "You're so mysterious," I told him, not making eye contact, in case he entranced me in his spell.

He took a sideways glance at me. "I can't help it, there's so much to tell..."

"But do you ever _plan_ on telling me?"

He avoided my eyes when I looked up at him. "Maybe. Maybe tonight, even. But then it would take past morning." I nodded slightly. "Anyway, I have another thing to show you, remember?" He dumped some crumbs into his hand, and, making curious cooing noises under his breath, slid it underneath the boat. He paused a few seconds, focused intently on the side of the boat, as it he could see through it. Then there was a short cackle, and he gently lifted a seagull away from the shadow.

It was wounded. Scratches, still oozing, stood out bright red against the white feathers of its breast, and Link had tied a strip of cloth around its left wing. "I found him on the beach, not so long ago. Don't know what got him, only that he needed help. Something broke his wing, but when that heals, he'll be alright, so for now, I'm feeding him and stuff." It was perched delicately on his finger, looking up at me with shiny black eyes as it nibbled at the bread. "I've called him La'vi; Medli told me that's a Hylian name for flight."

"It's nice," I said, as he ran a finger down the back of its neck. It closed its eyes; its eyelids were an eerie white. Link laughed a little.

"'E kinda reminds me of the seagulls Aryll used to keep around the house at Outset."

"Aryll?"

"She's my little sister. She's seven now. Seagulls loved her- there were always at least two or three of them circling 'round her head dawn till dusk." He smiled fondly and stroked La'vi again. "She would always do this sort of thing, finding wounded gulls and nursing them back to health. Trouble is, if you give a seagull food by hand, it won't want to leave you. So she kept most of them as pets."

"She sounds nice. I wish I could meet her sometime." I found myself wondering about _my _sibling, whom I had left behind. Shaking the thoughts from my head, I continued. "What was it like on the island?"

Link smiled, as if he had been hoping I'd ask. "Well, I was the oldest kid out of the four - there was only a few small families living there- and, to tell you the truth, I don't think I was a very good example to the others." He laughed a little, and startled La'vi.

"Why not?"

"Well, I was pretty lazy before Tetra came along." He drew a fist across his ribs. "You'd always find me sleeping somewhere, usually right in the middle of a patch of sun, or in my bunk on the bed. Every morning, Grandma would have to send Aryll out to find me and wake me up, because I always slept in so late, and the crabs won't catch themselves. It was a really small island, and I was the best at hunting them down."

"Sounds like you didn't have much to do," I said, as Link invited me to stroke La'vi.

"Nah, it was fun. Aryll'd be up at the watch tower pretending she was the queen of the seagulls, and sometimes I would be her knight. The most fun thing to do though was to go to Sturgeon's and read weird books, or take sword fighting lessons from his brother, Orca." He said this all with great enthusiasm. "Sometimes, I'd chase Aryll all over the island with a stick, saying I wanted to 'practice'. Grandma didn't approve, so I'd usually have to skip supper."

I laughed. "You sound like you were a little wild."

"Yeah, I was a stupid little kid." La'vi steadied himself by flapping his wings. "Usually, though, it was because Aryll had pulled some trick on me earlier, like sneaking up behind me and spilling well water all over me."

"That's funny; you don't seem to have a problem with getting wet," I said, recalling the time he'd 'rescued' Madame Ebony's bracelets.

"Well, it was just the fact that she'd do that to me, _on purpose_, I guess." He shrugged. "But you know me, the thought of no supper's like the thought of waking up early. I couldn't sleep those nights; my belly would be growling so much, I'd almost bet no one could. But then Aryll would show up and hand me some bread and cold crab, just enough to get me through the night. She was always so sweet... The last time I saw her, she was waving Tetra and Medli and the rest of us goodbye, her cute little smile on her face and those tears dripping down her cheeks, trying to be strong like the rest of us, growing smaller and smaller in the distance..." His voice cracked.

"Don't keep talking like that," I reached across the space between us and placed a hand on his shoulder. He reached up with his free hand to brush me off, but paused, locking his eyes on me.

His hand rose and touched mine, though I hardly noticed. I was entranced; this time he had me intentionally captured. I felt as if I were doing something wrong, awkward, and yet was filled with peace and understanding when he spoke. "I _will_ see her again, you know, once our business here is finished. You're gonna help me find my sword, because you're one of _us_ now." His eyes were alight now with a determined fire, burning now with sparks of hurt, kindled now by the strength of his heart.

"Wha- What do you mean, _one of us_?" It tingled on my tongue like some kind of ambrosic nectar.

He grinned a little with the excitement. "Tetra and Medli and Makar and me are connected by fate; we are the true New Hylians, as Tetra calls us. We were all born to support the balances of the Triforce somehow, and don't think it was coincidence that you found me on that beach. You're supposed to lead me to the Chichimara."

"Ha, not in a thousand years! You wanna get yourself eaten up?"

"If that's what it takes to get the Master Sword back," he said, not in the least bit disturbed. He placed La'vi on one shoulder, lifted my hand off the other, and held it gently in all ten fingers. He looked into my eyes expectantly.

"Wha? What makes you so sure that I know where he is?" I raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"I had a dream... You were guiding me with this little stick in my mouth, right in a space between my teeth..."

"Uh, what?"

He laughed. "I think I was a horse..."

"Oh, the _bit_, then," I said, nodding.

"Yeah. There was another horse beside me- I think it was Tetra; it sure acted like her- and you were on my back, messing with that little- you called it the bit. It was kinda weird, but I felt this bottomless sort of desire to run..."

"Wait a second," I said, worming my hand out of his. "I had this dream, too... Just moments ago, in fact... Those horses were _you_?"

"Me and Tetra." He nodded vigorously. "You led us through a fence..."

"And then you shook me until I got off," I continued. "Why'd you do that?"

"I-I didn't want you on me when I fought," he murmured, just as amazed as I that our dreams had somehow been connected. "I was a horse; I could smell things, feel things, and I knew that wolf- the Chichimara, I think- was there, waiting for me. And... And then..."

"I kissed you,"

"You kissed me,"

"Yeah..." we said together, turning away from each other with a sheepish sort of air hanging between us.

"Then Tetra caught fire or something..." I continued after a moment. "And you fell down that hole."

"Yeah.... That was weird. My head was throbbing, and I hurt all over, and it was sort of wet... I mean, it must interpret as something, right?"

"I guess," I continued, somewhat doubtfully.

"Maybe I die," he said thoughtfully.

"What!? No, you _can't_!" I felt like leaping upon him and pinning him to the ground, so he'd never get out of my sight (of course, I didn't). La'vi looked very startled.

"Seagull-feathers, Anni! I'm joking, seriously." He looked at me as if I were the one with the problem, sliding his seagull back into the hull of the King of Red Lions.

"Well, I don't think it's very funny, considering... We've grown rather... fond of you around the Spilled Goblet, Saigon and the others and I, and being eaten just doesn't seem like a suitable death for one the likes of you."

"Being eaten doesn't seem like a suitable death for anyone, but it happens, doesn't it?" Link said, smiling in spite of himself. "It doesn't scare me. I've got through a lot of battles on the sheer will to reach my goal; it won't be any different this time."

I sighed, exasperated. "But how do you know?"

He turned his head in a birdlike sort of way, grinned and said simply, "Green's a lucky color, no denying that."

My lip curled, so I was half-smiling. "Hmm. I guess I won't be able to dissuade you, huh?"

He was satisfied. "Yeah. 'Long as I'm twelve through two hundred, no one's gonna get the fire outta me."

"Sure, sure," I said, amused. "But Ramoya sure came close."

"I didn't expect to be ambushed in a _general store_," he protested. "Speaking of her, though... Am I still signed up for the Tournament? I gotta know if I'm gonna fix the King in time."

"I dunno. If you are, it should come in a letter sometime, probably with my judging notice."

"That's good. That means when I get to the boat race, I can take you out on the sea with me."

"What? No!" I was shocked.

"What? I've seen the way you look at the ocean. You need to go out there someday."

"But... I-I... Wind and water are killers. I can't go out there."

"'K, but the wind is a personal friend of mine, and if that's what you're afraid of, I've got it under control. 'Course, y'_do_ need wind to work a sailboat." He stood up and dusted himself off. "You gotta face your fears sometime."

"Well, I don't plan to," I said, a bit annoyed at the carefree tone he'd been using.

He grinned, a little dangerously, so that he resembled Tetra somewhat. "We'll see."

"_Sure_." I got up, feeling the draft through my light nightgown. I looked over at Link, surprised that so much valiance could thrive in such a small package; he was at least four inches shorter than me, and yet he could do anything he wanted to do, as if nothing held him back. Muu splashed against the horizon, in hot pursuit of a large fish. She caught it in midair and swallowed it whole in one swift motion. Then, she sunk slowly into the water, somewhat like a schooner with a hole in it.

"What was that contest you were going to judge?" He asked, tossing some bread into the hole in his boat.

"Boulviddarian fencing. I do it every year. Sometimes it seems like I'm the only one who judges right, with all the bias and bets going on. There are a lot of rules you've got to keep in mind."

"What kind of weapon do you use?"

"A dueling rake. Here, I'll show you." I walked off to the north, with Link following behind, his head cradled in his hands.

"The moon is nice tonight," he commented, his eyes lit with the stars. "Reminds me of a few nights..."

"The one Tetra keeps teasing you about?" He scratched his ear sheepishly.

"Yes, that and some other more... serious sorts of occasions. Not that the 'barrel incident' wasn't serious."

"Do tell," I said, hoping he couldn't see my satisfied smile in the dark. I thought I had somehow managed to catch him in a corner.

"Yes, well..." He sighed. "Okay." The darkness settled around us; the wind paused, tapping at the blades of shadowy grass in an expectant manner. "It'll be a little hard to explain unless I start at the beginning...

"It was on a morning, just like any other back at Outset- the seagulls were calling, the members of families had started on their daily jobs, and I was snoring on the watch tower, not a care in the world. Aryll, just like always, came to shake me awake. I asked her whether a guy could get some sleep around there or not, and she just smiled and rocked back and forth in her sandals, making her pigtails sway. Then, she tells me that I had slept halfway through my twelfth birthday, and as you can imagine, I almost fell backwards off the side of the watchtower- I was lucky there were barriers, really."

"You really _were_ lazy, completely forgetting your birthday," I smiled, punching him in the shoulder.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Complete proof that the most dreamlike things happen once you wake up.

"So, Aryll tells me that Grandma's back at the house, waiting to give me a gift. I stretch myself a bit, and head over there- It was all the way across the island, but even that wasn't very far. I found her up in the loft, with that sad smile she has when she's thinking about tradition and the future, and then she gives me the tunic I'm wearing. You can imagine my disappointment," he kicked a stone, as if he still was upset. "No one likes getting clothes as a present, 'specially if you're expected to wear them in the wrong season, or, well, the wrong _decade_."

I laughed. "But now, you'd look a little strange in anything different."

"Of course I would," he said, looking quite self-satisfied. "It was the entire tradition of Outset Island, and the people who fled from the Old Mainland centuries ago- whenever a boy turned the age of the legendary Hero, he would dress in green garb and embark on a quest. 'Course, they dropped the quest part long ago- and me being lazy as I was, was NOT about to stray far from the shores. So there I was, out in the sun in these thick clothes, sweating, and having no idea what to do with myself. I returned to the watchtower, hoping to continue my nap, when my sister told me that _she_ had another gift for me.

"She told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand, and I did so with a creeping suspicion that this was a trick of some sort, and when I'd open my eyes, I'd be holding a rock, or a crab or something- but when I did, I was clutching her most prized possession, a scarlet telescope with seagulls painted on it. Coyly, she told me that I could keep it for one day, and that I could use it right then if wanted to."

"She was sweet, then,"

"You have no idea," Link smiled, a little sadly.

"What kinds of things did you see?"

"I could watch all our neighbors doing who knows what in their yards- chasing pigs, cutting grass, and all the rest, but then, our Rito postman, a witty cock named Quill, caught my eye. He was depositing mail into our postbox, when all of a sudden, he looks up and panics, spraying sienna feathers everywhere. Aryll grabbed the end of the telescope, and crying out with fear, pushed it up to the sky, where I saw the sight that started up all the events that led us to you.

"It was a giant bird, the one I now know as the Helmaroc King. His beak was wickedly curved, his eyes were pale blue and pupil-less, and in his claws, he carried an unconscious girl, who looked about my age. He glided on wings that blocked out the sun all over the island, and he kept looking back over his shoulder."

"Why was that?" I asked; almost a bit too fast because it was getting exciting.

"Because just off the shore was a pirate ship, launching small boulders at him. One of their shots connected, hitting the bird in the face- it let out a horrible shriek, like a million dying seagulls, and dropped the girl. She plummeted to the heart of the Forest of the Fairies, a place high on the cliffs that no one dared enter. Aryll was half-fearful, half-excited as she tugged the hem of my tunic. 'Oh, Big Brother', she said in her dramatic Queen of the Gulls tone. 'She's fallen into the forest. Only a knight like you can help her now.' I looked at her guiltily. I wanted more than anything to sleep, but even I knew what she said was true, and so I went to our neighbor, Orca, to ask him about the situation. He brushed me up on my swordfighting, and gave me a small sword, making me promise I'd use it well. Then I headed off to the top of the cliffs, my feet trembling beyond my control in my boots."

"Oh, Din! What happened?"

"The cliffs of Outset were connected by one rickety old bridge. No one had bothered to fix it, since no one went to the other side anyway. I stood at the edge of this, sighing shakily and noticing all the missing boards, and then closed my eyes and ran. This wasn't the smartest thing to do; my feet landed on nothing more than once, and I got tons of scrapes and scratches, but I made it to the other side, scared out of my wits, if nothing else.

"I grit my teeth and stared into the forest ahead of me. The trees were huge, towering tens of feet above my head, and little light shone through anywhere among them. I stumbled in over knarled roots, and looking around frantically, turning at any sound that reached my ears. By the time I found a clearing, I was shaking all over. Staring across to the other side, I sighed in relief. That girl was hanging by her vest from a tree branch." He stopped suddenly. "You do know who she was, right?"

"Um..." I didn't recall any descriptions of the 'damsel in distress', so I shook my head.

"It was Tetra, of course. I'd never seen a girl dressed so strangely. She was still quite unconscious, and I was about to climb the tree to get to her when the wind whooshed above me in streaks of shadow. Unsheathing my sword, I took a breath and turned. Two large birds, long necked and similarly plumed to the Helmaroc King; the Kargorocs, sped into the sky, leaving behind a pair of Bokoblins. They were sort of impish creatures, with pig-like snouts and ears like those of keese. Both carried large sticks, and they babbled a bit with each other until they noticed me. They war-cried and advanced quickly- and I had to be quicker if I valued my life.

"Somehow, it wasn't what I'd expected." He shrugged and leapt over a root.

"Well, yes. It was obviously a planned ambush," I agreed, half stumbling as I hit the same snarl of weathered root.

"R'you all right?" he asked, cocking his head slightly and nodding when I nodded. "Anyway, I couldn't afford any time to stand shivering in my boots, so I met the first with the blade of my sword, blocking his stick. I wasn't very experienced then, you know, and the other crept up behind me and gave me a whack on the side, knocking the wind out of me. Then one snuck in a blow to my head, and I was left dizzy and trying to catch my breath on the ground a few feet away from them. They advanced rather curiously, probably wondering whether they'd killed me or not- they certainly had hit hard." He rubbed the back of his head, absentmindedly recalling the occasion. "One leaned in real close, so that his rank breath nearly choked me up again. I took the opportunity, grabbing the front of his shirt and slicing him neatly in half before he vanished in a puff of purplish dust.

"The other squealed and ran off, and I eased myself to my feet to chase him- I disposed of him quite quickly. Wiping the cold sweat off of my forehead, I looked to the trees, where Tetra hung. Her eyes flickered, and then widened as she realized where she was. She fought for a moment, her branch swaying dangerously, and I winced when it cracked and sent her, screaming, to the ground. I watched her curiously. She looked up at me, sighed and said, 'Oh, Din, what's with _that_ getup?'" I'm sure his ears went pink, though it was hard to tell in the dark.

"So she always had that... how shall I put it... charm, then?" I inquired, smiling softly to myself.

"Yep, she's funny." He cradled his head in his arms and smiled back at me. "I had never heard such an odd tone of voice, and was wondering how to react, when Gonzo slashed his way through the brush, calling her name. He scolded her a bit, and she scolded him some, while I just stood, there having no idea what to do. Even when Gonzo brought me up to her, she tried to avoid the subject. Eventually, he and her pirates made their way out of the forest, and I followed them.

"When we emerged in front of the rickety bridge, I was greeted by Aryll's sweet voice, and the cawing of her seagulls across the emptiness of the cliffs. Despite the presence of the pirates, I grinned and yelled back over at her. Before I could tell her not to, she was hopping across the bridge. For some reason the hairs at the back of my neck stood up; suspicion hung in the air for a moment. Something just wasn't right. Flashes of demons shot through my head, sending a shiver down my spine. Then, a huge silhouette blocked out the sun, and I heard Tetra curse beside me. With that great piercing call, the Helmaroc King glided from nowhere, stretched out his gigantic talons, and scooped up my sister. She called out to me, fear spreading in her voice, and I felt so burning hot with anger that I began running after him."

"But surely... You stopped, didn't you; you were so high up..."

"Nope," he said, shaking his head rapidly. "Fell straight off the edge of the cliff. Tetra caught me by the wrist. I don't think she actually meant to, either, but there she was, cursing herself for her impulse and struggling a bit with my weight. She called me stupid, and a bunch of other things, but I was pretty immune to it all, since I was in shock."

"You poor soul," I said, completely forgetting the events that had ruined_ my_ life previously, although a small part of me longed to compare them with his. I was a sensitive old fool, I suppose, but maybe I still am now.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he said, grinning lopsidedly and cockily raising an eyebrow. "I knew I was gonna rescue her from the start.

"The pirates had set anchor right up in front of Grandma's house. Tetra brought up word on leaving the island to pursue the Helmaroc King, and for the first time, I spoke, telling her that I was going to come with her. At first, those blue eyes went as big and round as a couple of saucers, but before anyone other than me could notice, she was laughing her head off. And to tell you the truth, I really didn't find it that funny.

"I persisted, but there was no way to convince her. Just when I thought I ought to give up, Quill, our post-Rito, butted into the conversation. You should've _seen_ them argue! We might'a had to pull 'em off of each other, hadn't Tetra finally given in. She told me grudgingly that I could come with them, 'long as I brought something to use as a shield. Cheerily as I could (which wasn't much, since I was very upset), I headed off to Grandma's house, because that's where the family shield hung on the wall. I came and found it gone, only a space between the leaves that had framed it. I heard a shuffling behind me, and there was Grandma, bending over the shield which had done nothing but hang there for ages. She wiped a bit of dust off of the top ridge and glanced up into my eyes. A sad air between us, she and I stood there, both feeling a bit guilty about ourselves; I took in her query on the fact I had a sword strapped to my back, and where I was going, and what had happened to Aryll. Usually she was quite a potent person, but now she seemed quiet, confused, and altogether faded, as if one could see straight through her.

"Kinda how you see me sometimes?" The question came so suddenly out of the midst of his tale, that at first, I wasn't aware that I'd been asked anything.

"Er... Well, I suppose you return to your past quite a lot... You journey through time within the confines of your mind, I suppose." I was unsure- a bit embarrassed in fact; my answer had been like that of one years older than I. _Hah_, I laughed silently to myself. _As if I could relate._ I had blocked out my past, rather than looking back upon it as Link so vividly did. Beside me, he smiled, the moonlight glittering in the sideways glance he gave to me.

"Ah, well. Time is the heartbeat to our world, much like the wind is her breath," he sighed, seconding my comment with one as profound. He sank back into his tale as suddenly as he had left it, and now I nearly closed my eyes in my determination to travel with him into the very depths of his twisted past.

"Grandma smiled sadly, old times and tears appearing behind her usually cheery, bright eyes. Quietly, she handed me the shield, and told me to hurry up; I'd keep Tetra waiting. I smiled back at her and whispered my goodbye, and then reluctantly closed the door behind me. But through the windows I could hear her murmuring to herself;

_The Sea is broad and hopes are bare;_

_Fill the sail of a sailor's dare._

_On gull's wings my love glides to thee;_

_Will the Winds of Time blow you back to me?"_

He whispered the words in a way so that it sounded as if the wind itself were reciting the old nautical rhyme, and then paused for a moment before continuing. "Outside the doors, I recovered my nerve. I was more afraid than I'd ever been before, and yet, I just _had_ to see my poor sister to safety. Presently, I appeared before Tetra, trying hard not to shake, trying hard not to swallow. Soon, my tiny island home would be miles away, a speck on the endless sea, and then there was I, who felt even smaller than that as Tetra grabbed my arm, firm yet gently, and dragged me onto the ship.

"Her boat, of course, was huge. Trembling ever so slightly, I stood alone on the prow, watching the small families of Outset gather at the dock. At least, I thought I was alone. Tetra appeared behind me somehow, shocking me with the sound of her voice. She taunted me, tried to kill my courage and strand me back on the island with nothing but worry, but I solidly told her that I was going to go, no matter how horrible she made it for me. Of course, she grinned at that."

"Of course," I agreed, knowing where Tetra got her amusement.

"Senza rang the gong, the tone loud and echoy in my ears, and I swallowed hard. The people of Outset were cheering, sending me good wishes, but I was immune to them as they grew smaller and smaller in the distance. And, just when I thought it was too late, Grandma appeared on the porch waving goodbye to me; and I waved back until my arms were tired, and she was hardly visible on the horizon. Tetra retched, as she'll do, and demanded that I go down and work with Niko. I rolled up my sleeves. What was the use of arguing?

"I met him deep in the dim, candlelit belly of the ship, where the mousey fellow, who insisted himself superior despite his short height, squeaky voice and comical behavior, set me to work. I'd always been taught to obey my elders though," He shrugged, "So I did I was told, even when it seemed ridiculous. Apparently, Tetra had told him to make me do every one of the most humiliating jobs in the book of pirating chores. I found myself chipping bits of dirt out from between the planks of the wood floor with a small stick, then cleaning it, then cleaning it again, doing laundry, carrying it across the deck without a basket, dropping it all ('cept a sock) from slipping on the wet floor, and being forced to clean the whole lot of it again. All the while, Tetra had set up pirates to mock me around each corner; even she herself would show up for a good laugh. But they were like raindrops on a seagull's back, simply slipping off; it didn't bother me at all in the end.

"Then, Niko started the bet. He told me that if I could swing across a room on some ropes he'd give me something, and, warily I did. It was easy, too. Of course, he hadn't been expecting me to actually do it in less than a year, and so he was twitchy and about as nervous as a rat behind the wall. He gave me the Spoils Bag and demanded me, quite uneasily, to keep quiet. I hadn't the faintest idea why, but I obeyed.

"Tetra called me to the crow's nest after a few hours and pointed out the nest of the Helmaroc King, high up on a chain-ridden tower of the mysterious black series of battlements that was the Forsaken Fortress. The place glowed with searchlights, and the eerie silhouettes of dastardly creatures could be seen through the windows. With her sharp eye, she directed my view to where the seagulls gathered at a window. This was the place where the bird- and, other entities I had yet to discover- held Aryll prisoner. I asked Tetra how we were going to penetrate the great walls, but she didn't seem worried at all. She offered me some bread and juice, which I gladly took; I was really hungry after the distress of the whole day. Then, right in the middle of my drink, I blacked out."

"She _drugged_ you?!"

Link gave me a sideways look and nodded. "Sure, you don't underestimate Tetra. You never know _what_ crazy things go through her mind.

"I woke up slumped over in the bottom of a barrel, covered in bruises. Slowly, I rose to my feet, and was greeted immediately by Tetra, who stood off to the side, a meter or two below me, adjusting a rope on some sort of contraption. She asked me whether I had a headache, and smirked a bit when I said I didn't. It was odd... I looked about suspiciously and found to my complete horror that my barrel was set on the ship's catapult. I wiggled a little, trying to make it so that the barrel would fall off the side and tip me out: if that had happened, I would've given them the chase of their lives, for sure- but the barrel was, at the time, much too heavy for me to budge.

"Tetra tried to reassure me in her own way, which, as you know, isn't very reassuring at all. I just had to face the fact that I was going to be launched. With a fierce tremor of terror coursing through my shoulders, I shut my eyes, bracing myself fervently in cold, sickening anticipation of what was to come...

"And then, it happened." He gestured enthusiastically in the air. "Tetra must've let out some sort of goodbye to me, but there was no room for any other sound as my yell pierced through the night! I don't know how I kept my eyes open, with the fierce speed of the cold, stinging air stabbing at them! My knuckles white as I gripped the edge of the speeding barrel, I soon realized that the pirates' aim was off- and then I hit the wall a few feet from Aryll's window with such force, the barrel burst to smithereens, and I was dashed hard against it. Dizzy with the pain of the impact, I plummeted down into the black water below.

"The water was cold enough to bring me back to my senses. I cursed Tetra under my breath as I forced myself onto a safe-looking dock. I heard her scold me for it and was surprised to find a glowing green stone hanging round my neck. With this, she gave me the_ grand_ idea to hide under a barrel to sneak past the dunderhead guards, because my sword was gone, lost sometime during the fall. Her stone scolding me all the way through, she helped me (watching me from a distance with her telescope) joust the control-blins off the battlements where the searchlights were, and sneak my way to the place where my sword lay. Of course, that came after many spans of time when Tetra couldn't see me, or me getting caught by some of the smarter Moblin guards and being thrown into an easily escapable cell. I was quite battered and bruised by the time I was fighting the Bokoblin guard with my re-acquired sword. When I had done away with him, I pressed open the heavy iron door with my whole side. I was in the uppermost tower of the Fortress, which was lit dimly with candles on the wall.

"I ran straight into the middle of the room- seagull-feathers, I was a stupid wretch back then- and looked to the side where wooden bars cast shadows along the ground. This was the jail cell. Hurriedly, I looked at the occupants; a wide-eyed, richly dressed blond girl, a shorter one that wore rags who eyed me with flickering eyelashes, and the one who stared longingly out the tiny window- she looked backward and her eyes were green. Aryll! Now that I was up here, I wondered how I was going to get her, with the jail cell locked and no signs of easy escapes. She was awed, running to the bars, so happy that I was to rescue her- and then she stopped. At first I wondered why. Then there came the sound of wing beats falling heavily behind me and I only had a second to look over my shoulder and freeze in terror before the Helmaroc King scooped me up in his huge beak. The sharp edges biting into my sides, he flapped his wings and carried me up and out of the tower. I was terrified; any moment he could've thrown back his head and swallowed me whole- he was certainly big enough to make a meal out of me- but though he seemed interested, tightening his grip and pressing on my side with his tongue, he did not. The world splayed out dizzyingly beneath me as I helplessly dangled there- Tetra's ship lay almost invisible against the dark water to the south, and I hopelessly watched as their white sails went up as they prepared to leave, presuming me dead, eaten. I closed my eyes tightly- I was now lost to everyone I'd ever known in the world.

"The bird's smooth glide changed to a hover, bobbing up and down. He had brought me to a balcony lit with faint candles, but the shadows prevailed over all. Instinctively, I shivered. He was there. I'm not saying I knew him at the time, but the sight of that no- faced pillar of shadow, sinister as it was, did not come as a comfort. He eyed me lazily; I thought I saw him grin, but it was too dark to tell. After a moment, he made a nonchalant whisking motion with his head. _Throw him out. _And the bird obeyed, chucking me out across the ocean with unbelievable strength."

He yawned loudly. "I blacked out sometime- probably when I hit the water. Anyway, can't go on all night like this."

"I suppose not," I sighed. "There's the barn, anyway." I pointed to an awkward little building, cradled in the spiral of our hill, surrounded by trees. A small pond was placed in front of it, with wild geese floating drowsily within. I wished we had all night to discuss Link's adventures, but I'd told him I was going to show him dueling rakes, and, by Din, I was going to.

'The barn' is a phrase too little to even give you a glimpse of what we were actually approaching. This building, with its half-hearted 'Keep Out' signs plastered to the outer walls, and its wind vane, which swayed back and forth, was the store room of my mother's beast collection- from the docile to the dangerous.

I grabbed the shovel which lay propped against the door. Muttering under my breath, I lit an old lantern by way of magic. "You ready?" I asked Link, turning towards him and grabbing the knob behind me. He had been reading some of the notices curiously.

"Of course. Why all the signs though?" Instinctively, he grasped the air where his sword would've been, then remembered and gave up. I just nodded and opened the door a crack.

Immediately, a set of huge, slobbery jaws began snapping open and shut just beyond the door. Used to this, I smacked the wretched creature's snout hard with the shovel. "Meet Tailo," I said, rolling my eyes. Link raised his eyebrows a bit, as the beast whimpered within. "C'mon."

I strode in, and Link soon after. The lantern-light revealed cages and the creatures within – a bunch of rats busily sewing a dress onto a mannequin, an enormous bat with ears that touched the floor, hanging upside down; some moths, faintly glowing. And beyond, the hunched green and grey body of Tailo shuddered. He was a Wendigo, a large lizard-like demon with a body like rubber and a throat pouch like that of a frog. Before my mother had rescued him (He'd somehow eaten a large rock, which had made it difficult for him to walk), he had been a ruthless man-eater. Now he ate more appealing things; apples, pigs, even whole cows from time to time. He had then promised Mother he would never taste human flesh again. However, Link was the type he would've chased after in the 'old days'- as he called them- and he began trying in his horrible way to tease the poor boy.

As I scanned the walls, searching for the rakes among the multitudes of hung metal tools, and Link sat down on a hay bale, Tailo shuffled up rather sheepishly behind me, his chains clinking on the ground. "So, I see you brought _boy_ today." He made the nasty smacking noises he often does, and then one in his throat that sounded like bones being snapped in two.

"No." I said without looking at him, gripping the shovel tighter.

"Just a little-"

"Oh, stop."

He whimpered. I found the dueling rakes and thrust the best one into Link's hands. "Feel free to smack 'im around a bit if he bothers you."

"Er, okay. What's his deal?"

Nonchalantly, I took my pick of the remaining rakes and leaned against one. "Oh, he's just teasing you, that's all. You'd have made him a fair meal in when he was still allowed to eat human."

"How... nice." Link raised his eyebrows a bit and looked down at the beast, who began scratching guiltily at the ground with his claws.

When Link began to inspect my search again, Tailo warily scuffled up a little closer to him, wistfully licking his lips. Link drew back towards the corner slightly. Tailo snorted at this. "Quite a small one, aren't you?" he murmured, grinning.

"I manage." Link gripped his rake, reassured at the sight of the blades.

"Might even be able to _slip_ past the collar," the beast continued, gesturing to the metal ring around his throat. He had to take it off every four weeks, when we fed him, as it served the reasonable purpose of preventing his swallowing anything thicker than him.

"I'd rather not talk about it, thank you," Link replied. I poked Tailo in the backside with the sharp tips of my weapon.

"Oh, stop." I growled.

"Bones to you," snarled Tailo. "Why can't I tease him a bit? As much as I'd like to eat him," He gave Link a wide, toothy grin, "I know my restrictions, particularly in the situation I'm in. I'll keep my promises. A predator does his best to save his hide from those stronger than him."

"Darn right," I said stiffly, but Tailo whipped his tail impatiently, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"You think I'm talking about _humans_? If I hadn't made that promise to your mother, Anni – and a Wendigo never breaks a promise- I would overtake and gobble up the two of you right now. Nah, I'm talking about something _stronger_, something even I can fear. And that pointy-eared boy has been claimed already."

"Link, actually," the boy said, nodding his head in quick introduction. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about? Wouldn't you like to know?" Tailo began pawing nervously at the ground again. "He's marked YOU," He jabbed a blunt claw at Link's chest, "Down as prey- If I killed you, he'd kill me. Or maim me. Told me himself."

"But who _is_ he, exactly?" Link's brow was furrowed.

Tailo took a breath, let it out, and said very quietly. "The Chichimara- he's been lurking around here for a few nights, threatening _me_ as if I knew anything..."

"But _do_ you know anything?" I shot in.

"No...Er, yes... I don't know..." He was utterly confused and uneasy. He sighed. "Before your mother Cydelidele rescued me, I was... a familiar to him- out of fear, of course. He made me do his chores; lure the right people to him... I didn't think I'd have to worry when I came onto the property- he knows my situation well. But now YOU are HERE of all places- oh, dear..."

"Wha-" Link began to protest.

"Don't join the Tournament! He's going to ambush you there, and-" Link shut the Wendigo's long jaws with his hands.

"But _why, _Tailo, _why_ me?"

He let Tailo go. "He's been searching for you for years. Even he had a master at one point, and he said that... that you had struck the two of them down. Chichimara is after revenge now- he says that he's stronger now than he used to be- oh, dear..." Tailo glanced up at the clock on the wall again- it was almost midnight. He glared at us. "You shouldn't be here! Not at this time, not at this place! He'll kill the lot of us! Hurry!" He glanced quickly around, then snatched Link up in his jaws and placed him in the hayloft above. Before I could protest, he did the same with me, shoving me into an empty apple crate, right on top of Link. The nervous beast pulled down the lid so that we were stuck inside, with only two or three inches of space at the bottom to peek through. "Please be quiet!" Tailo warned us, and slithered out of sight. The lantern was put out.

There was a moment of confusion in the cramped apple crate while we adjusted ourselves, trying to find out whose limbs were whose, and apologizing over and over again under our breaths. Somehow we finally got situated, and even though it was uncomfortable, we had no choice but to lay there and peer through the crack.

Tailo was asleep- or pretending to be asleep- on the floor. In the distance, the clock tower of Boulviddar chimed dully twelve times, and then there were only the lonely sounds of our breathing, and the clock ticking on the wall. The tip of Link's warm, hard ear pressed against my temple, I grew tense. There was a coldness here...

Then there was a knock on the door. Tailo shuddered and opened an eye. Boards creaked with weight, and the door opened- but the one who entered kept to the shadows.

"Worm, wake up, you lazy fool. It's a wonder I don't kill you and leave it at that. You've grown fat and indolent from lack of the hunt."

"Yes, well," Tailo stammered. "Humans _do_ make fine companions. They're a little more than just food. After all, they can do many things we can't, you know."

The being snorted. "Humans, eh? Ha." He seemed extremely upset. And then he stepped into a column of moonlight. Link tensed beside me, and I knew why.

We saw the form of Chichimara, and immediately everything was explained. It was the slim, short structure of none other than Link himself, glaring (in a way the real Link never would) at Tailo. He held himself a little differently than Link, his shoulders shifting uncomfortably, and his feet a bit farther apart than necessary. "You say these things about humans, and you've never been one," the creature sighed, using a borrowed voice. As he leaned forward, the moonlight caught in his eyes and a reddish glint shone off the backs of them like cat's eyes. Over his left shoulder, a sword was sheathed, one with a long hilt. Gilded triangles were embellished on what we could see of the blade. Link silently nudged me, and I knew that it was the Master Sword- but, as hard as I looked, it somehow didn't hold the splendor the others had hinted on; it was nothing but an old sword.

Chichimara stretched a hand out before him, shifting it a bit as he looked at himself. "_Humans can do anything?_ Hah.Honestly, I feel like I'm made of glass- these puny bones are gonna shatter any minute. And, Worm, each time you let out a wheezy breath, it's all I can do to keep myself from falling over." He diverted his eyes to the beast with unsettling speed. "This shouldn't be hard at all."

"Of course not," Tailo agreed, nodding. "If the boy looks anything like you-"

"Of course he looks like me, Worm: transformation essences are never wrong when an experienced Shapeshifter uses them."

"Well, he appears to be quite a scant creature, don't you think, Sir? You'll quite a quick meal of him to be sure."

"Naturally. I can feel his hot blood on my tongue already." He licked his lips.

"But, Sir, if I may," And Tailo was sheepish at this point. "Won't you still be hungry afterwards?"

Chichimara grinned very widely at his companion, showing a set of glistening teeth that was not human at all. His eyes became luxurious slits, half open. "I thought about that too, but there's nothing to worry about. Worm, he's part of a set of two."

"_Two?_"

"Yes, two." He began pacing back and forth across the barn, right underneath our apple crate. "Apparently," (he turned around) "When he is dead, another will come to avenge him- Princess Zelda of Hyrule." Link quivered slightly beside me. "They're like lemmings, only they taste better," he said fondly, with relish. "And a princess, at that!"

"Yes, that's all quite well and good- well, very good, in fact, but where does Lanir fall into this? He gave you such a hard time about McMiylan, and the Crowsy Brothers, and all those other legendary folk... Won't he try to interfere?"

"Dead!" Chichimara's lips curled into a sharp smirk as he saw Tailo's surprise. "The Tournament will be nothing for the boy but his downfall! Just yesterday Lanir came sniveling over to my lair, as usual with the 'how can you do this killing of the innocent?' and such. This time I managed to transform him, and I had to chase that wretch with all my might to get a swipe in."

"And then you devoured him." Tailo said, sounding upset as he predicted the usual ending.

Chichimara looked at him strangely. "No. Animals are much better at getting away than humans, and I lost him. But he was bleeding badly, and I saw him fall into the sea."

"You really think he's gone? Lanir's got powerful magic with him. How can you be sure he's really dead- Sir?"

"WORM! How dare you question my judgment?!" The dark Link whirled on Tailo. "Perhaps tonight I should sup on _your_ flesh. My transformation essence is losing its power, and Link can always wait, as I have his sword." Eyes narrow slits, he stepped menacingly toward the wretched Wendigo, cracking his knuckles.

Tailo cowered in the corner. "I-It will be a lovely addition to your collection, t-to be s-sure!" Nervously, he eyed Chichimara as he advanced. "Don't eat me!" The Wendigo shielded his eyes, and then, with a quick glance in our direction, said: "You could try one of those _apples_ up there." He said it as if he was going to betray us, but luckily, he had chosen something most harmless and unappetizing to his intimidating master, as to keep his attention away from the box.

The Dark Link drew back in disgust. "Apples! Nasty human food!" He turned away in revulsion. "_Plants_. Whose stupid idea was that, anyway?" He paused, then turned those shifty eyes back to Tailo, and a dryly amused sort of smirk appeared on his lips. "You have a stableboy?"

Tailo drew down his guard. "Excuse me?"

"A stableboy. Don't think I can't smell him-" He sniffed. "Or _them_. The place reeks of human."

"Oh, yes..." whimpered the Wendigo, eyeing our crate and shifting nervously. "He left- a quarter hour before you arrived, actually, Sir." Such lies! And to think, poor Tailo had the guts to utter them!

Chichimara looked at him suspiciously. "Pity. I could've used a snack-" He sniffed the air again. "Are you sure he doesn't have overtime?" Tailo nodded, a bit too quickly. "Are you _hiding_ something from me, Worm?" He scanned the hayloft distrustfully, and Link and I were careful to stay in the shadows, not moving a single muscle, for if we were found, Link would be eaten up as a long awaited midnight snack, and quite a variety of things could happen to me. I certainly hoped I didn't resemble a princess in the slightest, for fear of the Chichimara's devouring me, too. If we perished here, no one would know what had happened to us.

There we cowered, helpless- the reddish glare of the Dark Link's eyes never connected with ours, and yet it always seemed so close. Each moment I was afraid that those tight lips would spread into a smirk, that he would throw open the lid of the crate and find us there, vulnerable, terrified! And he would turn into something horrid- pitch black with yellow claws, long white teeth and glowing red eyes, and slashing his fangs and nails to bring down the boy, my only comfort, beside me.

The piercing glance subsided. Link and I let out silent breaths of relief. Tailo did too. "Do you," muttered the Dark Link. "Know anything about the boy? Anything at all? Did Siagon, or that... what's her name... Anni come 'round here with him?"

"Uh... Yeah, Anni- she did."

"When?"

"Uh," Tailo glanced at the clock. "Around twelve."

Chichimara eyed him fiercely. "I'm assuming they're long since tucked into bed right now..." He grinned, as if he were plotting to slay us in our sleep. "I don't know enough about human children to know how late they stay up- but you would, wouldn't you, Worm? Used to hunt them in the old days."

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes." When his master gave him the eye to continue he did. "Uh, the only way they would be caught out now is if they were trying to meddle- and I assure you, Sir, Anni is sensible enough not to get herself and others mixed up in things that aren't her business."

_Ha, but look at me now,_ thought I.

Dark Link looked doubtful, but shrugged. "And I look just like him, right?"

Tailo nodded. "Perfect, Sir."

"What's _he_ like?"

"Um, polite, I guess."

"Ha! And everyone thinks I'm him! Humans have seen me steal transformation essence ingredients as him- they must think he's a dirty rat by now. He won't be missed."

"You said that about Cydelidele too, Sir, and...many mourned." Tailo swallowed hard, and I inched closer. My mother!

"I was trying to do you a favor, Worm." Chichimara stared blankly at Tailo. "You might've joined me again if Cydelidele wasn't there to stop you."

"She didn't- she wasn't- She changed me, Sir."

"Shame too. You were such a skilled hunter- but then, you _were_ getting old." Tailo inflated his throat sac indignantly. Chichimara cracked his knuckles. "I wouldn't try it if I were you, Worm." He glanced out the window. "Being a storm is something else- you feel like you have all the power in the world." Grinning at the prospect, he peered back at the Wendigo. "Mm, all the power in the world. _Appetizing,_ is it not?" Tailo drew back and shook his head. "Is it this Siagon holding you back? Or this Anni? I'll snap them like twigs when I get the chance- if it will make you join me again, Worm."

"I have my loyalty, Sir." Tailo inflated himself even larger.

"But why isn't it _mine_, Worm?"

"What you play are youth's games- killing for the joy of killing, not for necessity."

Chichimara folded his arms across his chest. "It isn't _my_ fault you Wendigoes will prance about like a spoiled dog when someone hands you a bowl of cream. I favor blood over brown sugar, thanks- It keeps the mind sharp, the body strong- you become a sleek, swift predator."

Tailo raised an eyebrow. "Somehow I recall that you yourself- the dastardly predator- once took cream and sugar from a certain master in the past."

This was the Chichimara's turn to be guilty. "Ganondorf created me! How could I not take what he gave me from his table? I was like a son to him- the one he would never have due to his pitiful Gerudo race.

"I was constructed from Link's inner fear and then a bit of his shadow; both," He paused, "Very hard to get. Master sat high on his horse and terrified the pathetic boy, and gathered it all then, with a blast of his great power. How could I not be loyal to him?"

"You were AFRAID of him, Sir, and yet you wanted his power."

The Dark Link paid Tailo no mind. "All through my life, he trained me. I would be his worst weapon when the boy awakened after seven years- and he called me Shadow from my dark appearance. I grew as the boy's shadow- miles away for all I knew- matured, and finally my Father sent me out to strike him down- but I failed him."

"Hmm. Sir, you told me you'd never been beaten?" Tailo hid his satisfaction in the dark, along with himself.

"I won't be again! I was weak then! Link had lost his fear, and so the spark that was in me died out almost completely. I became shapeless, and hid at the feet of human buildings for years, listening to the painful tales of Link's conquering my Father. Until I returned, here in the pathetic little town of Boulviddar! I found new shapes, dozens of them, and now I am legend enough to rival even his!"

Tailo sat up as confidently as he could. "But Sir, Link beat you once- couldn't he beat you again?"

The Dark Link had vanished into the black along with everything else. Link and I tried to find him lurking somewhere, but this was in vain. We only knew when Tailo had let out a pitiful cry, bloody slashes between his eyes. Chichimara stepped out of the darkness, his fingers somehow dripping with scarlet, a splatter of blood on his face. His eyes slits, turned to Tailo, he smirked. He tasted the blood on his fingers without the slightest contempt.

"Hm. Fate, bring Link to me; might his blood drip from my fingers as well." He winked, and, with animal speed, was gone. Tailo was left whimpering in the dark.

I let out a sigh of relief and threw open the apple crate.

Link was upset for some reason. But somehow, for the moment, we wouldn't, couldn't, utter words and communicate our worry. After all, it had been a tense night.

Silently, I lifted a dueling rake, the blades shining in the faint light of the moon, like a bleached set of rib bones.

"Is this weapon enough to suit your needs, Link?"

And though he sat there crouching in the apple crate, knees clutched to his chest, his face turned away, I noted a smile form on his lips.


	15. The Crown Flame

A/N: Okay, is this quick enough for you? It might do well to remind you to look for the different elements in the characters. Anni is comprised of many different characters- not just Malon, but also traces of the Shiekan Impa and even Anju, the rather distracted worker at the Stock Pot Inn, with the grandmother that tells long tales of ages past… Sound familiar ? The Majora's Mask element will become much more evident in this chapter. Enjoy!

Link and I were laughing. The rest of the night had been spent sparring with the dueling rakes in the fields, going through the rules until both our heads felt numb. We had trekked back afterwards, an old scarecrow accidentally speared through on the rake slung over Link's shoulder; talking, but not making sense of what we were saying, as if we had just been to a festive, happy place where nothing had meaning at all. Of course, we both knew we shouldn't distract from the truth- our eyes were hard under the tears of mirth, our glances long, our silences short, but many. The vast prairie land of L & L Ranch cradled us in her warm, heathery grasp and we couldn't help but feel we were being watched. Whether the deities had good intentions, or evil ones, I couldn't be sure. Who knew with the Chichimara loose among us?

But, nonetheless, we were laughing. Perhaps we were nervous, or maybe just relieved; after all, we were just children…

Neither of us wanted to go back up to bed when we returned to the Spilled Goblet, so I brought out some milk and cookies and Granny Smith apple slices. We chose the tallest chairs in the restaurant, at a table framed by a wide, pale moonlit window with deep textured curtains that cascaded into the darkness of night.

"Tetra's gonna pick on both of us in the morning," Link said, smiling, his upper lip covered in milk.

My fingertips stroked the side of my mug contemplatively. Smiling softly, I looked at him bemusedly through my eyelashes, bringing a tart apple slice to my lips. "I suppose so." Taking a precious nibble, I closed my eyes as the cool, sweet juice spread over my tongue.

Link held one up as if he were examining it, then crammed the whole thing into his mouth. He chewed for a moment, swallowed, and then grinned lopsidedly. "These are good."

"Aren't they, though?" I laughed.

He picked up another one. "They say that the apples from Hyrule were the best- Do you think so?"

"I don't know- Can they get better than these?"

"I guess not." He took a bite from his next slice and swiveled around on his tall chair until he was looking up and out of the window. "It's nice to think about though."

"What are you guys planning to do after you- hem – get your sword back?"

Link took another bite and chewed. "Explore. See places. Found a city. That sort of thing, I suppose." He gulped down the rest of the apple. "What's beyond those mountains, anyway?" He pointed to a formidable- looking range, silhouetted against the deep, silky night sky.

"Y'mean the Jags? No one really knows. But it must be either really good, or really bad, since no one ever comes back when they venture there."

"Really? Sounds like fun."

I laughed. "You have such a fine way of amusing yourself."

And here we were, laughing endlessly again, covering up the anxieties that lay unspoken within us.

I woke to the hard nudging of a staff on my shoulder, along with the spicy tang of Saigon's perfume. "Wake up, Anni. We need you in the kitchen. Link and Medli have tried to cover for you all morning and they need help."

I smiled before I opened my eyes. I had curled up on the seat of the wide window, hidden completely from customer eyes- but not from Saigon. The sun streaming down on me was a bright, cheery gold, catching in the silk of my white nightgown so that I seemed positively angelic. Sleepily, I cast a glance past Saigon, and saw Link carrying an ample breakfast to a lone, giggling couple in the bar hall. He smiled quickly at me, placed a foot wrong, and half-fell into the hallway. "Get dressed, Anni." Saigon said, giving me another poke. I got up and obeyed, the scarce morning customers gawking at me as I hurried toward my room.

My shirt halfway on, I slid down the banister, nearly crashing into My'chel at the bottom. "Mornin' Mikey!" I grinned, pulling my second sleeve on.

"Mornin' Anni," he called gruffly after me. "Don't get yourself into trouble, y'hear me?"

"I won't!

I slid into the kitchen on the varnished floor, startling Medli so much that she almost threw a spoon into the oatmeal. "Well, hello!" she said, feeling around for a towel. I grabbed the spoon and took up the stirring, reaching into the cabinet and finding the nutmeg.

"Hey, Med, what kind is this s'posed to be?"

"Uh…" She popped up forlornly at my side.

"Two bowls cinnamon apple, a maple, and a peach," said Link, walking in and setting a tray back onto the pile by the door. He slouched against the frame. "Holy Din Anni, when do _we_ get breakfast? I'm starving!"

I smiled distractedly into the oatmeal. "Link, I think you're always starving."

"True…"

"Medli, get some peaches from the cellar. And Link, find me some sugar and a pint of cream." There was no need for directions; Medli disappeared deeper into the kitchen, and Link dug around in the cupboards beneath me. I shifted a leg behind me to give him room. As you have figured out, the Spilled Goblet was not the most organized place in the world; only Saigon could find everything.

Even so, I was in heaven here, with the stove basking in the varied light beneath the trees beyond the window, the heavy scents of smoke and cinnamon and frying eggs hanging in the air like the elegant robes of a merchant, the hustle and bustle of bodies in the kitchen, and sounds of clinking glass and things on the cutting board. When I cooked, it was as if my hands were moved by some sort of divine force, improvising recipes superbly for daily specials, executing the older, familiar tasks completely from memory. Link watched in awe as I made a soup for the day, with bouillon and hot sauce and carrots and rice- the kind of soup in which you can't identify a single thing in your spoon; you only know that it's hot and steamy and good.

I spooned out a bit of the savory red liquid and sniffed it experimentally. I turned and offered the spoon to Link. "Taste it," I told him. He took a sip, moved it back and forth a bit in his mouth.

"Salt," he said.

"_Garlic_ salt," I corrected him, after taking a sip myself. I reached to the side and tossed some in.

Saigon wheeled up. "Try some of this," she said, thrusting a small jar filled with a red powder with iridescent blue traces at me. I peered into it, a little worried.

"What _is_ it, exactly?"

Sai-Sai giggled like a little girl, refusing to tell. "Not too much, now."

Reluctantly, I tapped a little bit in, watching the steam change pinkish. I stirred, and then offered the spoon to Link again. I had to go to school, and no way was I going with frog's feet or an anteater nose. Link had a day to get over it, if anything were to happen. Link didn't seem too worried, though.

He took a sip, sloshed it around a bit and swallowed. As he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, I noticed that steam was coming out of his ears. His eyes widened, impressed. "Man, Saigon, what _is _this stuff? It's great!" I raised a finger and was about to point out that tongues of fire were appearing in his mouth, but the magic wore off before I could manage a word.

"Saigon, _what_ did you do?" I said. She smiled at us.

With a laugh like a piano scale, she explained, "Medli gave me a couple of dragon scales- she has quite a collection, you know. You mix it with a little salamander hide, and what do get?"

"Spicy," said Link.

"Maybe you should put a little more in," Saigon said, wheeling away, and winking.

"And burn the place down? I think _not_," I called after her. Link laughed at my exasperated expression.

When I had finished, I still had plenty of time to spare, so I took the liberty of taking some bacon and egg sandwiches up to the library, Link following me as if we were cuffed together. Tetra sat, her knees clutched to her chest, in the corner of a couch, shivering, her eyes wide and her face pale. Saigon had taken the lift and was shuffling through papers in the back somewhere.

Link plunked down beside her, grabbing a sandwich.

"What's the problem, Tetra?" He said, his mouth full of egg. "The pirates go out for grog again?"

"No." Her face was blank, as if she was afraid, but it might've very well been that she was sick. Link swallowed and was about to take another bite, when he looked back at her again.

"Really? Whatstha' matter?" He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm. "You're not yourself today, Tetra."

"It's… It's nothing. A bad dream." She looked down and tried to smile.

There was a rapping at the window. I leapt to it before anyone else could and flung it open, and a bird the size of an eagle, scarlet and gold, flew through and lit on my wrist, clacking its beak and complaining about having to do chores all the time. He wasn't heavy, really; maybe two pounds at the most.

"Hiya, Monty," I said, digging around in my pocket and pulling out the chocolate-covered cherry I'd stashed there. Monty was a phoenix, and that's what phoenixes love most.

He made a lovely crooning in his throat and dropped a parchment scroll into my hand. "Oh, Anni, you _shouldn't_ have!" Readily, he snatched the cherry from my hand and glided back to perch on the windowsill to peck at it. I unrolled the scroll.

"Just as I thought," I murmured.

"Well?" said Link. "What does it say?"

I shuffled with the paper a bit, ran it back and forth a bit on my knee to straighten it out, and read the first sheet;

"Dear Patrons and/or Participants,

We have received your applications, and thank you for your decision to pitch in to make this proud event, The Tournament, possible. The set date is this coming Saturday, the Footraces starting precisely at nine thirty, the Youth Fencing at noon, the Adult Fencing at three o'clock, and the Boat Race at six o'clock. Please be sure all clocks are still keeping time and following the Moon; those who are late for their events _will be disqualified_.

No Dilly-Dallying!

Mayor Sunt K'eng'gomen Dotour VIII"

"That Dotour, he's as rank as ever, what with all the toadstool cigars he smokes," remarked Monty, clacking a beak full of cherry. He had been a gift from my mother to the mayor, and the poor phoenix disliked his master greatly. "Go on, girl! Read the other ones, too. I haven't got all day, you know." He pointed a talon at me, as if he hadn't interrupted at all.

"Yes, Master," I replied sarcastically. I took and read the second sheet:

"A judging application has been successfully sent in for Miss Malon Aniku of this household. She is to be at the Youth Fencing Competition no later than twelve o'clock at ground number one." This bit was written in fine calligraphy, but the bottom was scrawled; "We have also received a rather confusing case supposedly from your household. There seems more than one Mr. Link in this town at the time. Fortunately for you, we have sent them both a schedule sheet, one of which along with this one; everyone should be allowed to participate if they signed up.

Please get this sorted out, dear!

Madame Rosa Aroma, Secretary."

Monty clacked his beak disapprovingly. "Poor Madame Aroma, working for such a clod. He is convinced that she is in love with him! The poor young lady has enough to worry about without Dotour breathing down her neck."

I nodded. Who in Boulviddar didn't know of the lovely, friendly Rosa Aroma's sorry predicament? One day, I was going to ask her to work here, at the Spilled Goblet, so that she could be happy instead of sorting papers. Help was always welcome here.

The third and final sheet of paper was Link's schedule. "Looks like you gotta run in heat fourteen at eleven thirty." I looked up at him. "They're hardly giving us any time in between! What with the fencing at twelve…"

"We'll be _fine_, Anni. Don't get so worried," he said. Tetra shivered a bit beside him. "What about the rest?"

"Let's see… Your first match is at twelve on ground seven. I won't be able to watch you… But if you keep winning, your seventh match is on my ground, number one."

"That's nice of them," he remarked. He didn't know that most people didn't make it to the seventh round. You were finished when you lost, and the seventh round was the last one.

"And everyone's in the same boat race, and that's at six thirty, so we're fine, there." Link nodded, and Tetra shivered again. Monty craned his long neck and peeked around me.

"Oh, so it's you," he said upon seeing Link. I didn't ask; phoenixes went in and out of death so often that they knew a lot of things. He'd even spoken to my mother once or twice, but he'd never tell me about the conversations. "You're going to do something mischievous while the Tournament Moon is in the skies, aren't you?" He chuckled. "A regular Masked Boy, you are!"

"Uh, sure," smiled Link, who knew next to nothing about the Masked Boy, nor anything else the bird was babbling about.

"Well, good luck with that," cackled Monty, and he flew from the window. I shut it.

"Tournament Moon," mumbled Tetra, shivering violently like she was having a fit.

"Tetra, are you absolutely sure you're okay?" Link asked.

"…No… But it was Tournament Moon in my dream…" She shuddered. I'd never seen her so sickly and pale.

"That's funny. You never have nightmares," he mused. "You said that whenever you had a nightmare, I'd always show up with the Master Sword and banish it away." She tried to sigh and control herself, tried to smile again.

"Well," She shuddered. "It isn't like you didn't… try, anyway."

"What? You mean I lost? That's weird." A slight frown appeared on his face.

All this dream stuff was weirding me out. "Does it matter?" I interrupted.

"Of course it matters!" Link, Tetra, and even Saigon snapped.

"But they're all just dreams! Fantasy in the night! At least, that's what I'm led to believe. None of them make sense, anyway you slice them."

"Well," said Tetra, unusually passive, quietly. "I've had similar dreams a thousand times- and even when the nightmare was Ganondorf himself, Link was there and the light of the Master Sword split through him like a thousand knives." Ganondorf… I'd heard his name so many times, and yet he seemed just a vague memory, if anything at all. Something Sheikah in me made me clench my fists just thinking about the name- yet, something else, something new, sort of quailed at the name of what seemed to be a man of terrible power, purest evil.

"What happened, then?" I asked, glancing at the clock. "The reverse?"

"No," murmured Tetra. She hugged her knees and closed her eyes tightly. "The sh-shadow was sort of creeping towards me to lunge, and then Link showed up. I was sorta relieved until I noticed that he was fighting with a stick."

"A stick?" Link wrinkled up his nose at the thought.

"The Master Sword is still in the hands of evil," mused Saigon. For some reason, her brow was furrowed at Tetra, not out of concern, but something else. I'd seen her do this several times in the last few days.

"So you tried to fend off this shadow-beast with this stick, Link, fiercely, too, and it just sorta laughs and catches you under his paw with no effort at all." She shivered again, and almost couldn't say the next part. "H- he _killed_ you, Link! Sliced you apart and _ate_ your beating heart! Your blood covered the ground and his muzzle and paws were red with it, and he was crunching on your bones like they were nothing…" She shuddered, tears appearing in her eyes, and leaned over onto Link, her check on his shoulder. "I was s-so afraid that when I woke up, you wouldn't be here."

He leaned his head on hers. "But I'm here, Tetra, y'see?" The side of his fist was placed over his heart.

"Link, you're crazy," she murmured. "You don't have to fight that Chichimara; you can just stay here… here… and be safe. Anni wouldn't mind, would'ja, Anni?"

"Uh…"

Her eyes flashed blue and she shivered. "Please, Link, don't go to the Tournament! Please, don't… He's there, I know he is. My dreams always lead to something or another."

"Tetra…" He sighed, became aware of the fist over his heart, and rapidly drew it away. "I gotta fight him." He glanced across the room at me, remembering our late night encounter.

"You're overconfident," she murmured to him accusingly.

"Well, perhaps he is too."

She stood up, walked over to me, and snatched the papers from my hands. "You can't, Link. I won't let you!"

"The sword, Tetra! When it's placed back where it can merge the worlds and time, it will block Ganon and the rest from ever returning! But while it's part of some monster's collection, there's nothing keeping another attack from coming through. I don't have a choice in the matter. After all, I was the one who lost it. D'you think I'm gonna just sit here and watch evil take over again?"

"You don't know when it'll come again, though! It might be a thousand years from now!"

"It just doesn't feel right."

"You're not going to the Tournament," she said in a final sort of manner. "He'll find you there and kill you, and this time I'm not going to let you risk it." And with this, her eyes glowed bright, and the papers in her hands burst into a bright blue flame.

"Tetra, h-how did you do that?" said Link in alarm.

"What? That?" She grumbled, eyes rolling as she shook off the ash and flame. "No idea. Happens every once in a while when I'm sorta moody."

Saigon nodded silently in the corner. Tetra traced her name in the air with a flaming finger, muttering madly about Link, cupped her hands, and sent a tiny round fireball floating through the center of it all, shimmering for a few seconds before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Does it… hurt?" I asked. I'd seen a lot of magic, but none of this sort before.

"Not really," She said nonchalantly, as if the flames had almost soothed her. "A bit like coffee that's just cool enough to drink without burning your tongue, but it sorta steams your insides on the way down."

"Hmm. The Crown Flame," said Saigon, sensing the magic in the air, and smelling it, as most magic had some sort of smell. "That's rare stuff you've got there, child. As I remember, it only belonged to a certain clan in Old Hyrule."

"Huh," grunted Tetra, with an odd shake that put out her tiny flame.

"They were a group that had befriended the Goddess Nayru, and thus were given strange powers of peace and wisdom," said Saigon, reciting from the textbook that was her head. "That fire of yours is fed by truth, and if you learn to control it, you will always know when something is deceiving you. It should be used for peace, as it has a few healing powers, and it won't burn anything unless your full conscience wishes to. Mind you, I didn't think you felt so passionately about burning those papers- it's often quite difficult to feel so strongly about something. Be careful, child. Your anger could be dangerous to your allies as well as your foes."

"Well, it's not like you can blame me for not wanting my friend to become pot roast," muttered Tetra.

"Hero sandwich," murmured Link, and I told him to shush up.

"Yes child, but you must look at your dreams as you did before; they tell you what will happen, not what might. You keeping Link from the Tournament wouldn't change the eventual outcome a bit. Destiny will not be changed by one, but by many."

"Wait one minute, here," said Link, a little nervously. "You're saying it's quite clear that I _will _die?! That's _reassuring._"

"I didn't say that." Saigon was a bit annoyed at everyone's 'ignorance'. "The dream-muses use symbolism much more than telling you flat out what will happen." She waved her hand over the ash on the floor and brought back the schedules. "Put those in your pocket, Anni." I did. "I don't know what fate is written down for this boy, but so far, it seems extravagant. Now, Tetra, you didn't tell us the whole dream. Keep going."

"That _is_ the end, Saigon. Chichimara devoured Link. I don't think it could go any farther than that."

"Hmm… Really?" Saigon looked a bit disturbed for the first time. "No light, no strange sounds, no voices….?"

"Well…" Tetra shifted uneasily. "Yeah, there was a bit of that. A flash of light, and then the monster sorta whimpered, but that was probably indigestion."

"Oh. All right then." Saigon nodded again. "Anni! Shouldn't you be at school about now?"

"Oh, _Din_!" I said, frantically looking at the clock. I had ten minutes; there was no way I was going to be able to run across a field, rent a gondola, paddle through the city, and be there on time. "_This_ is about as sweet as honey… I'll never get there on time…" I sighed. "Can't I just say I was sick and stay here with you? This conversation might mean something."

Saigon tilted her head around the room, a bit too slowly for my comfort. "No, Anni, you've got to keep up your studies."

"But-"

"You won't be late, I'll send you through the _Ttvo'cha_."

"Oh, no!" I cried, backing away. "I'll run, they won't mind if I'm a bit late-"

But Saigon had already pulled out her L & L Ranch harmonica, and was playing the tune while making the motion with her hands. I winced as wings, the feathers spun neatly from pure magic, curled around me with the most tickly and horrible of sensations. The _Ttvo'cha_, it seemed, translated neatly from the Old Hylian to "Owl Song", or "Song of Soaring".


	16. Destiny Rising

A/N. Uh, yeah. Let's just get started XD! Enjoy, and don't forget to review (I know you're mad at me….)

I was torn between dragging my feet and dashing for it when school was out. Reuben was probably playing hooky, and his gang kept giving me dirty looks, which I had returned with a smile, because they didn't dare get near me. I didn't feel like smiling, though. After all, the mixture of the mysterious Crown Flame and the horrifying dream still rather had me shaking. And I had been picking feathery down out of my shirt all day. The _Ttvo'cha_ was not the most convenient transportation in the world.

The moment I noticed the odd winds blowing the grass around in circles round my feet, I smiled in spite of myself once more; perhaps I was relieved. "Hi, Link."

"Anni, don't you ever look up?" Link said, scrambling up the side of the fence. "Whenever I see you, you're staring at your boots."

"They're nice boots!"

Link laughed. "You'll miss everything interesting," he said teasingly, swaying back and forth like a reed in the wind.

I was amused, even though I was blushing. "Like what? Clouds?"

"Birds,"

"And nothing else."

He laughed again. "And you say _I_ have a fine way of amusing myself. Seagull- feathers!"

I didn't say anything, but watched him pluck a bit of the sweet long grass that grew next to the whitewashed picket fence and stick it in the corner of his mouth to chew on. I leaned on the railing beside him and tweaked one of his ears. "So, why are you here this time? Surely Auntie doesn't have any more errands for us."

"Well, it's partially La'vi." It was then that I noticed that Link was gently pressing down on a small bulge in the front of his tunic, and that a little avian head was poking out just at the tip of its V-neck.

"What about him?"

"Well, look at 'im." He gently picked La'vi up and set him on the shoulder nearest me. "When I went to see him this morning, the little fella was tearing off his bandages." He gave the gull a playful nudge with the tip of his nose. "And there was nothing underneath." He was right. It seemed as if there had never been a wound on those feathers, so pristine white. "I reckon it was fairies; that's what Saigon said it might be."

"Fairies? Really?" I didn't doubt their existence; I just had never seen one before. Link nodded.

La'vi made an alarming squawk and leapt to the top of Link's head. There he climbed as far forward as he could, and stuck his head out between the boy's eyes. He cocked his head, and looked at Link for a moment. Then the cloth of the hat gave beneath the tiny talons, and Link had to catch the bird and put him back in the front of his tunic. "He's a clumsy little bird, isn't he?" Link smiled. "I don't think he knows what to do with himself most of the time."

"Can he fly yet?"

"I dunno, he hasn't really tried. Mind you, that's a little weird, him being a seagull and all; they love flying more than any bird, except maybe the tern."

La'vi made a little sulky cheeping sound, muffled by Link's tunic. "What'sa matter, buddy?" Link looked up at me. "He seems pretty sad most of the time, but I can't see why. I mean, I feed him and stuff…"

"I dunno. My mom could probably tell you, but, y'know…"

We both stared into the sky a moment.

"The moon is strange here," Link remarked. "It seems so close all the time, like I could touch it if I climbed the highest peak of the Jags."

"Bouu'n vii d'imar_,"_ I murmured, staring up at it. Near this point in the late summer, the moon did seem close, wide and spanning the sky. The Tournament Moon was the brightest night of the year because the moon was at its largest.

"What?" asked Link.

"Ask Medli," I smiled. "Boulviddar was named from those words. I think Saigon once told me that it means 'place where the moon once touched'."

"Hmm," he murmured, his seagull wriggling comically down his front. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with the Masked Boy and the War Under the Moon," I replied, leisurely picking a wildflower and strangling it tightly between my fingers. A sweet-smelling liquid soon covered my hands.

"Hmm, the Masked Boy," Link said, stretching. "He's what this Tournament's all about, isn't he?"

"Yes, the little stranger boy with a knack for getting into trouble and magic flowing through his veins." I nearly laughed, for he seemed so similar to Link when referred to in this way.

"Tell me about him,"

I sighed. "It's a right old kids' story," I hesitated.

"If you're saying it's an impossible legend, then I've seen it all before."

"I s'pose so. You would've, wouldn't you?"

"I dunno." He shrugged, and winced as somewhere behind his tunic, La'vi pecked him. "But, you _do _owe me one after the yarn I told you last night, don't 'cha?"

Here we paused, as I recalled a bit of the story.

"No one really knows what his intentions were coming to this place- he obviously was from somewhere distant and strange- but he showed up right in the nick of time. The War Under the Moon was just beginning, the many ancient races battling each other, sometimes so suddenly that the farmers in the fields were forced to go fight with nothing but their gardening tools- that's how Boulviddarian fencing began.

"There was a cause for all this trouble, of course. The envy of the moon, a spirit long thought to have been trapped in a mask for eternity, had returned to mortal lands in the form of an imp who did the most wretched things to all the races in the land, spreading anger and despair wherever he walked."

"Not a nice guy, I'm guessing," said Link, watching a cottonwood fluff float by.

"Too right." The fluff came by my nose, and I puffed at it so that it swirled on the wind. "They say that the Masked Boy had things thieved from him, strange and magical things- this was all the imp's doing, of course- and so he vowed to chase after him, not knowing that the snitch was, in fact, possessed by the Moon Spirit. The boy only got so far before the creature cursed him, and turned him into one of the living Shrubs of the forest."

Link wrinkled up his nose in his comical sort of way, and I laughed at him.

"He didn't despair, though," I said, still grinning. "He was a right little troublemaker himself, they say, and he soon gained knowledge that our once peaceful land would soon be destroyed; not by the Moon Spirit, but by the Moon itself, in its envy. In three days, the Moon would crash down into the center of the world, and everyone would be thrown into oblivion."

"BOOM," said Link, and I tweaked his ear.

"It isn't funny, stupid," I laughed.

"Ouch."

"No more jokes now. C'mon," I reminded him, poking his shoulder. "You got me into this, now you've gotta sit it through."

"Yes, I suppose I did, didn't I?"

I ignored him. "The Masked Boy pursued the possessed imp by moonlight, when it could be seen, chased him to the midnight of the third day; and just as the moon was about to hit, he reacquired his strange magic from the wretch and turned back time. That's the common theory, anyway.

"After this, he became human again, and then he carried his first mask. There are many stories about his fantastic masks, which allowed him to do magic; transform, speak with the dead, stir loyalty from animals, reunite those who had forgotten they were in love..." I sighed. It was all so extraordinary. If one, just one mask remained, was real… Oh, what a person could do! "No one quite remembers what he looks like, really. The glyphs and tapestries show such a great variety of characters, but in the end, they are all labeled the same.

"He roamed about the land, pursuing the imp, chasing adventure. He was not seen for a long time, but he was always there." I looked at Link. "They say each race had their own stories, but the races are gone now… The rock-eating Gorons, the fish-people Zoras…"

"Like out of the 'LZ'," Link mused.

"I guess so, huh? Maybe it was written around the same time period."

"Maybe,"

"Hmm…" I paused. "When he returned from the hills, on the Final Third Day, (for no one ever knew how many times he had set back time), he brought with him four friendly giants, the Guardians, with him. They held the Moon up from the earth in the fatal hour, and angrily, Majora threw aside the imp, which had played as a puppet all these days. The Moon swallowed the Masked Boy, they say, but then they say he went willingly. The rest is history. Some stories say he never returned, and you can see his constellation in the sky, and some say he appeared every once in a while to those in need, as an angel. What we do know is that Majora was defeated, and the mask became an empty shell.

"It will all be reenacted during the Tournament; the giants and things, anyway. Lanir plays the part of the Moon, for he can work many illusions… When the Masked Boy is chosen, he will go with Lanir and return dressed in white garb and paint as a guardian war-angel… The Fierce Deity costume, they call it."

"But Lanir is dead…" Link said, realizing the gravity of this now. I remembered the words of the Chichimara.

"But… But he… No way!" I fought back a sudden torrent of tears behind my eyes. "Lanir was our friend, our guardian, and now, dead!" I turned to Link rapidly. "What have we got ourselves into, may I ask!"

Link shrugged solemnly, then winced as La'vi struggled his way to his shoulder again, spread his wings and let out a piteous cry. Then he scolded us and eyed us rather angrily. "What, boy, are you hungry _again_?" Link looked to me. "I suppose we should get along home. And we _need_ to tell someone about Lanir. The Tournament will be nothing but chaos this year, I think." His fists clenched, whether he knew it or not. "Holy Din, Anni, this just keeps going downhill, and I can't put up with it any longer."

"Too right…." I cursed.

Link and I began to walk alongside the fence. I crushed the wildflowers spitefully beneath my boots, wishing that I was like Tetra, and could burn things up with my rage.

I was not in any way special.

I was simply caught up in something that I never remembered wishing for; a tale from some wretched book, that someone could read and laugh, knowing in solace that these things would never, could never happen to them. Even the Tournament now was ruined; an ancient tradition that had never met with any despair since the days it had started. The Sheikah part of me burned and spoke, while inside I knew I was a fool.

"Link," I said, shuddering inwardly.

"Huh?" He was quite caught up in his own thoughts, too, behind foggy eyes.

"I… You better get that Chichimara soon."

He cocked his head, his lopsided smile appearing ever so slightly at his lips. "Really, then?"

I swallowed hard, but that part of me wasn't quite finished. In fact, it was stronger now; boisterous, even. "Yes, and if you don't manage it, I give you such a punch in the nose that it'll be crooked and bleedin' till the next Tournament Moon, y'hear me?"

He let the smile spread across his face.

I couldn't believe that'd just come out of my mouth.

I looked away from him, and hot blood pulsed once behind my ears, as if to remind me of something I'd long forgotten.

Suddenly I became very worried about Tetra.

"Link, what about Tetra? Is she okay?"

Whatever remained of his smile drained slowly from his face. He put his hands behind his head and sighed. "I dunno, Anni. She's still all shook up- Saigon even made her some special soup with herbs, and she wouldn't eat it; she wouldn't even come out of your room, after a while."

"Does she still think you're gonna be… y'know?"

"Of course she does- and it's starting to scare me a little, too." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "It's gonna be a little difficult to punch my face in if some monster's already swallowed me, you know. But then, we've all had a bunch of crazy dreams lately, haven't we?"

I nodded.

"I think we should just go and see this through- there's no way of knowing what's gonna happen in advance."

I nodded again as we came upon the gondola dock. We stood there and waited alongside the worker as he waved for our boat.

"Now, you say La'vi was only part of why you came to see me. What else is there?"

Link tapped his boots impatiently on the platform as he shifted uneasily. "Uh…" he murmured, "It's a surprise." I raised an eyebrow amusedly.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really," he said matter-of-factly, just to taunt me.

The gondola worker made small talk and laughed a bit with his buddy, who had brought the new gondola from another canal. I sat down inside the boat and grabbed the oars.

"Well, C'mon then, Link. We haven't got all day."

When we arrived at the Spilled Goblet, the first thing I noticed was a difference in the smell of the air. It was strange- it was as if there was something in the kitchen that hadn't been there before. There was no other way to describe it.

Link insisted I come through the front door. I stammered a quick hello to Lona as he dragged me past her into the main dining room. She winked at Link and laughed. "Honestly, Anni, that boy's taking us on some real adventures!"

"What?" I asked, craning my neck to look at her while stumbling across the floor.

"Don't tell her! You promised!" Link yelled back. He dug desperately in the front of his shirt, held out a squawking La'vi in his fist, and set him down on a windowsill before dragging me away.

She brushed her bangs away from her eyes amusedly. Putting her hand over her heart and batting her long lashes, she replied; "Wild horses couldn't get it from me, honest." The last I saw of her was a quick, lipstick-red half smile, and then I was dragged around the corner.

"Link, what's going on?" I stammered as he pushed me on the heels of my boots across the varnished floor into the dining room.

"Stay there," he said, pointing at a chair and vanishing behind the kitchen door.

I sat down, hung my bags behind me, put my chin on my hand and sighed, smiling at the hopelessness of it all.

"He's… a little excited," said Komali, who was sitting nearby.

"I can see that." I moved a lock of hair from my eyes, and noticed a thin trickle of smoke billowing from the top of the kitchen door, and then the murmur of urgent voices. "D'you have any idea at all what he's got planning? It looks like he's trying to blow up the kitchen."

"I just hope Medli isn't burning her feathers off. She kinda tends to bristle them when she concentrates too hard…" I glared at him hard. "Oh, right," he smiled guiltily. "They're cooking, that's what they're doing behind the door."

"Hmm… Like what?" I asked, craning my head, trying to peek through the opened crack of the door as the smoke billowed out more violently. I clearly heard a 'whoops' from Medli. "Does it involve burning it?"

Komali shook his head. "No, not if you're any good at it. All you really have to do is boil water."

"And it's just Link and Medli?"

"Yes, but Lona was helping them earlier before Link left to get you, and My'chel was too, but he left because..."

I slapped my hand to my forehead, shocking Komali so his feathers sprang up on his arms. "Holy Din, you combine the cooking knowledge between them and you could _burn_ water!" I made a move to rush to the door and rescue my kitchen, but suddenly Link kicked the door open and stumbled out, Medli close behind, along with a roomful of smoke.

"We…We survived!" he cried, coughing and wiping ash from his face. In one hand he held a fork with something white and slightly charred speared on the end. One of his sleeves was burnt almost up to his elbow, and the hem of his tunic had burn spots as well. Medli carried a sauce pan which now resembled a large brick of charcoal with a handle. I licked my fingers and put out a small flame that was burning at the tip of her ponytail. There was a small silence as everyone took everything in.

We burst out laughing.

"My gosh, Link, you guys look like you lost a fight with a dragon."

"Isn't that what you call that thing in there with the fire and the smoke? Seagull- feathers!"

"Guys, you better not have wrecked my kitchen, or-"

"It's fine, Anni." My'chel burst through the door. "I was helping them out."

I turned to Komali. "But you said…"

"It's all right." My'chel continued. "I left because Medli accidentally lit my shirt instead of the fire wood, so I had to go put it out and get another one, and while I was gone, they dropped their giant spider or whatever into the coals, and Link was trying to get it back into the pan with a magic wand and a metal spoon that he got from the cabinet. And you know what happens when you put a wand in with the fire- the explosion? - it wasn't pretty." He said it all as if they'd done nothing more than drop a bucket of water- calm and carefree as he always was.

"That was a wand? It looked like a tong to me," said Link, examining the burn on his sleeve.

"Oh, Anni, I'm so sorry. We were just trying to surprise you," said Medli, shaking her head and placing the pan on the table. Her face was very red.

"Oh, believe me, you did," I laughed. "Are any of you hurt? Are you okay?" The three of them had small minor burns, but nothing serious. Even My'chel was nearly unharmed, and he had had to go jump into the rain trough to put himself out. "Now _what_ _in_ _Din's name_ were you doing in there?"

"They were cooking the giant spider," said My'chel.

"It's _not_ a giant spider!" Medli and Link chorused. Medli continued; "It's a crab."

"You mean it _was_ a crab," murmured Link, pointedly reaching into the pan and grabbing what indeed looked like the leg of a giant spider; it crumbled to ash in his hand. "I managed to save this bit though, before it really burnt up- and it was quite a feat, too- I had to break the shell and everything." He waved the fork.

"And he was halfway inside the stove, too." Medli added, not without a hint of pride.

"You guys tried to boil water _inside _the stove." The two of them immediately realized that they hadn't done it right just from the tone of my voice, and nodded sheepishly. I shook my head and smiled. "What am I for?"

"Cooking, obviously," Komali answered, absolutely serious.

We laughed again.

"You know," I gasped, wheezing for breath. "If I had any control over it at all… I would make sure that neither one of you ever got near fire again… But that's impossible, isn't it? Medli's friends with a dragon, and… and Link simply fights monsters." I put my arms around both their shoulders and brought them close. "Do I hang out with a strange pack of people or what?"

"Oh, shut it," laughed Link, thrusting whatever was on his fork into my mouth. I obeyed and chewed slowly, letting the strange new flavor sink in. It certainly was foreign to me, rather bland, but very rich. It was mild, but strangely sweet with an odd sour undertaste and the looming flavor of fish. "D'you like it?" he asked.

I took a moment to decide. "Yes." It was a pity the rest had been wasted; recipe ideas were springing up all over in my mind.

"Good!"

I turned to My'chel. "Why'd you let them try to boil water in the stove, fer Din's sake?"

"Foreign recipes, Anni, I don't know nothing about no wacky foreign recipes."

"It's partially our fault, Anni, mine really," said Medli, staring at the pan. "We're so used to cooking things over a pitfire on some island. We don't have stoves on Dragon Roost."

"Grandma did her cooking at the fireplace," added Link. "But to tell you the truth, I didn't really get the concept then, either."

"And we had no idea there'd be a magic wand in there somewhere too, or what it would do," Medli went on.

"And-"

"C'mon guys, really, it's all right. I'm just worried about you'sall," I took Link by the wrist and stood up. "Now let's go get that sleeve of yours fixed, Link, and I'll put some salve on those burns, there. An' those spots in your clothes should come out real easy."

After maybe an hour of fixing everyone up, Link and Medli and I went to discuss things in the library. I had replaced Link's sleeve up to the elbow, but you would never be able to tell unless you could smell the magic holding it together. I had neatly trimmed off the tip of Medli's ponytail, and healed the burns in seconds. Even My'chel was tended to, having cooling ointment rubbed into the burns on his shoulders. I gave him a hard time all the way, but it didn't bother him at all. He had been just like Daystar when they were both human, and they had been good friends. They were known around the restaurant for carrying cheery hearts and not listening to a word anyone was saying. When I was finished, you wouldn't know anything had happened, if it weren't for the smell of the burning that followed them around.

"Thanks Anni! You really have a way with that magic," said Link, rubbing his sleeve.

I felt my face redden. "Oh, it was nothing. And I should thank _you_ for going through all that trouble for me today." I smiled amusedly.

His ears went pink. "Holy Din, you girls never let me get away with _anything_ without teasing me for ages afterwards."

Medli batted her lashes. "Oh, it's just because you get mad at us, that's what makes it fun."

"Yeah, you look pretty goofy when you're mad," I added.

"What!" He did the cuckoo sign at us. "You guys are crazy. Beyond crazy."

Medli and I broke into a fit of giggles, punctuated by Link shouting "What's so funny?" over the top of us. Komali walked in to find out what the noise was all about.

"Oh, c'mon guys, two against one isn't nice," he laughed.

"Would you rather make it two against two then, Prince?" Medli said, at her most alluring.

Komali shrugged. "En garde." He plunked down next to Link.

Link smiled, sighed a little, and put his chin on his fist. "Man, Tetra would love this, wouldn't she?"

That changed the mood very quickly. The rest of us nodded slowly. Of course she would.

"Where is she, Link? Still in my room?" I asked. I had become very worried about her.

He sighed again. "Yeah, but she won't let anyone in. I tried picking the lock and she threw her sandal at me."

"With me, it was a teacup," murmured Komali.

"She spilled my feather oil everywhere when I tried," Medli added softy.

"And you should see the pirates." Link said. Medli and Komali shook their heads. "The lot of them has their share of bruises, too. She just locked the door again when Saigon came around."

"And Lona."

"And My'chel."

"Even _Daystar_, and he's more or less a dog." Link tipped his head into his hand and ran his fingers through his hair. "I just don't understand it."

"And you can't stand outside the door and talk to her either. She does that obnoxious humming thing." Komali turned his attention to messing with a small feather near his wrist.

"You know, guys, maybe _I _should try to talk to her." I didn't really feel like having stuff thrown at me, but I _was_ the only person left who hadn't tried.

"'S your funeral." Link shrugged. Obviously, he was not going to escort me. The other two didn't look interested either.

I hauled myself off of the couch. "C'ya later, guys."

"Bye," they murmured half-heartedly.

I walked off slowly down the hall. It was as forlorn and silent as it had been last night. I breathed the hot dusty air, felt my footsteps lost in the thick, rich rug beneath. I came upon my bedroom door. I had never been as reluctant to enter as I was that day. My hand paused in midair over the doorknob, and then I turned it as quietly as possible. It clicked as it caught. The door was locked. There was a loud thunk directly on the other side. "What do _you_ want?" came Tetra's muffled voice, torn by anger and grief.

I thought a moment before I spoke. "I… I wanted to talk to you about the Tournament." There was another thunk, this one much more enthusiastic.

"If that's you, Link, I'm not listening."

"It's not. It's Anni."

"Anni." I heard her sigh.

"Yes, it's me- May I come in?"

"Are the rest of those idiots with you?"

"No, I promise."

I waited a moment for a reply. The lock clicked, and the door opened a crack. I squeezed through with some difficulty and shut it behind me. Tetra had left my room in ruins. There was a brass oil lamp and one of my old boots blocking the door where she'd thrown them. She'd picked up her sandal, but indeed there were shards of a cup all over the floor, and Medli's pinkish feather oil was staining the carpet and dripping off the cabinet. Things in here were strewn around near the door, and the wallpaper, ceiling and bedposts had all felt the tongues of Tetra's Crown Flame. She sat at the bench near the window, staring out.

I wouldn't, couldn't feel any anger about her wrecking my room. It was a small thing, an easy thing- in the long run, anyway. The normal me would've been horrified, but I was taken over by something wiser, it seemed, something gentler. All I cared about at the moment was the wreck that was her. "Why did you let me in, Tetra?" I inquired after a moment's silence.

"Because… Well, you asked, didn't you?" She paused again. Turning She looked demolished herself; her bun was loose and half- hearted, so separate strands of her golden hair frizzed out. Her bandanna hung loosely around her neck, and her face seemed tearstained. Turning, she took a look at me from the corner of her eye. "It's strange, Anni, how you of all people don't believe in the dreams."

"Well, I don't know about that, but…" I sat down next to her.

"Well, I mean it's strange you even have the dreams, to be honest."

"I don't understand."

She stared out the window again. "Remember that first night, when you had that one about Link?"

"Yeah, with a ranch, and horses. We spoke some bizarre language."

"Yeah, well, the first night after I met Link, I had a weird dream too." She sighed. "I told you about the castle walls? He and I were both worried about something, but we'd just met- and that language? It's Ancient Hylian."

"How do you know?"

"Medli told me about hers, too."

"She had one?"

"Yeah, she said she didn't hear gibberish like we do. In hers she was surrounded by cascades of water, and Link rescued her somehow." She moved her hair behind her ear. "And in Makar's, they were surrounded by a forest, and they were seeing eye- to- eye. Makar wasn't short, I mean to say."

"So what was Komali's?" This was getting strange- everyone began to sound, in a way, connected, even more so than I thought- and the weird thing was that _I_ was involved as well.

Tetra shook her head. "Komali didn't have one, and neither did the pirates."

"That's strange." I felt my heart stirring strangely, as if waiting for Tetra to say something that would remind me of some great important thing I should be doing.

She put an arm over my shoulder, and I felt the warmth of her breath as she spoke. "It isn't, though. Komali and my stupid pirates- they may be our close friends and allies, but they have nothing to do with… Well, the protection of the Triforce."

"The Triforce…" I breathed with regret. I knew almost nothing about it- or the Master Sword. "I don't understand."

"Well," She looked at the ground nervously. "Medli and Makar have to pray for the Master Sword to be able to banish evil- that's why they were taught their sacred songs. The Master Sword is hooked, in a way, to the Triforce."

"Yeah, but what _is_ the Triforce, anyway?"

"After the goddesses finished creating our world, they flew off into the heavens. At the spot where they disappeared, they left behind three shards of their energies; Din's power, Nayru's wisdom, Farore's courage. They've been protected by many groups over many years, separated. The power of them all together can make a wish come true- an evil one will bring the world to downfall, and a peaceful one will bring prosper to everyone- We need to be careful about those evil ones." She rubbed her forearm absently. "Only the one who is destined to hold the Master Sword can hold the Triforce of Courage, and vice versa."

"Link," I whispered, and she nodded. This couldn't be true, how could I be believing this, how could this mean anything at all… But it did.

"When the Master Sword is in its place in its shrine, it keeps the Triforce safe in its place. It's also a key to the barrier between our world and the banished one. Like Link was saying earlier today, when the sword isn't in its place, any of the banished that discover the opening can return to our world through the portal."

I took this all in for a moment. "But Tetra, have the pieces of the Triforce ever actually come together?"

She paused. Several answers played upon her lips, and, carefully, she chose one. "Yes, they've been known to."

"How?"

"Well, let's say Link came into contact with the right people, at the right time, at the right place- That's when it would happen."

"Who would get the wish, then?"

Tetra shrugged. "Whoever was first."

There was a silence.

"Anni, I let you through that door today because somehow I knew you were one of us who would be protecting the Triforce- and you didn't know it yet. And there's something else as well." I felt her shiver. "There's something about you that's comforting, Anni. I feel like I could tell you anything, and it'd be safe with you… Do you understand?"

"Not really… But I can feel it too." There was no reason to feel hot and embarrassed, or frightened about anything. It was just the strange power that I realized was destiny. "Who holds the other pieces of the Triforce?"

"Ganondorf held the Triforce of Power. He's the one we're protecting it from- he's horrible, greedy and power-hungry. And my clan, the clan of Nayru that Saigon spoke about today… We've held the Triforce of Wisdom for years." She eyed the back of her hand, deep in thought. I shuddered inwardly as something cold and Sheikan seemed to stab me, and I realized it was because Tetra wasn't telling the full truth about her destiny. Even so, I remained strong- It was not for me to know as of this moment.

"Tetra, what role do I play in all this?"

"I'm not sure, but we're bound to find out soon… I… I'm sure it's about the Chichimara."

"Now that I know how important the sword is, I know we have to get it back." The prospect scared me, but it was true.

"Yeah, we don't really have much choice…" She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. "But I just can't get rid of this feeling- This dream, it's telling me that Link's going to die that night." She shuddered. "Some people wish their dreams would come true, but I've spent a lot of time hoping that mine would never come to be. I feel so torn…"

"It's like you can save the world, or you can save Link." I felt my throat constricting, too. Sadness has a way of being contagious, passed along by a breath, a choking voice, a despairing sigh. "Is this what destiny is like? Does it have so many sacrifices?"

"Yeah. The last person to wish on the Triforce… He could've chosen to make his country live again, chosen to make himself reign again instead- but he wished for _us_, Link and me and the rest of us, to go out into the world and find a new place for the new generation to flourish. That's what we were doing when we found you- we were on a voyage to find a new world. He was… The King of Red Lions." I looked at her suddenly, confused. "It sounds strange, but really- He was more than Link's trusty boat, he was the ancient king of Hyrule, underneath the waves." She sighed. "I don't know… I mean, I love Link, and all the rest of them, but I can't just… I don't know." Putting her face in her hands, she shook her head.

"It's a lot to live up to."

"You have no idea," she mumbled. "I just don't want to let him go… Or watch this dream happen again. It always makes me sorta faint to see him get hurt, and to sit there and watch him be… Oh, man!"

"He doesn't seem scared at all, you know."

"Yeah, but he's an idiot sometimes too. He fights so hard to please everybody that one day, he's going to get himself killed, and no one's going to be happy at all. And I'm afraid it's going to be soon."

"Tetra, maybe the gods didn't give him any reason to worry. It's like… Oh, Din… Look, once, I heard that it's impossible for dragons to fly."

"What moron told you that?" she growled through her hand, raising her eyes to mine. "Of course they can fly."

"No, see, aerodynamically, a dragon _can't_ fly- his wings are too small, and he's way too heavy- but he can. Why? Because he _thinks_ he can. He doesn't know it isn't possible, he just pulls away from gravity and soars. I think that's the way Link is. Maybe if he just goes ahead and fights the monster, he can overcome it without being aware that it can't be done. Do you understand?"

She nodded, wiped a tear from her eye. "Then I shouldn't try to worry him, should I?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I put my arm around her shoulder and let her cry for a while on her own. It was strange. Inside, she seemed so small, so worried, even though she tried to act tough out on her own. It felt good just to be sitting there beside her, drinking in her worry, protecting her."The Tournament starts this Saturday. Are you going to come with us? We're sure to have tons of fun, Chichimara or not."

She smiled softly. "Alright."

I stood up. "Tetra, I know you know him way better than I ever could, but please understand that I'm a little afraid for him too. Only the goddesses know what's to come. We'll just take what comes, good or bad."

She nodded, still smiling.

I waved goodbye and shut the door behind me. I felt sort of guilty for not telling her about what had happened last night, but that probably would've worried her worse. I walked back down the hall, smiling and immersed in my own thoughts, of my strange twisted fate and of Tournament Day. Suddenly I bumped into someone.

"Link!"

"How'd it go?" He looked worried. "Is she going to be all right?"

"Link, she's just fine." I walked on past him to help close up for the night. "Good luck on that Tournament, alright, boy?"

Poor Link looked genuinely confused. But he'd figure it out. We'd all be learning about our luck soon, when Tournament Moon came around.


	17. The Tournament Begins!

A.N.: dodges rotten apples thrown by angry would-be fans

Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry! I'm a horrible author for making you wait, like, a year, I know T.T;; But then, that makes you the greatest readers for having faith in me. ; Anyway, here it is. I'll try hard to type more, but it isn't easy for me for a variety of reasons. However, your enthusiasm makes it worthwhile! And don't worry, even though it's not my greatest work in the world, it's a looong one, like, 25 pages, so enjoy! -

"TETRA, QUIT IT!"

Tetra grinned, dipping her paintbrush into the bucket, and then smacking it once more on her wrist so that yellow flecks of paint flew everywhere, splattering Link and my homework. Link, who had been painstakingly painting in the black pupil of the King of Red Lions, glared at her, his hand trembling so much out of anxiety and rage that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't paint in a straight line. It was the sixth time today that he'd had to repaint it, and it was beginning to look like there'd be a seventh.

Absently, I dunked the tip of my quill in a potion I now had sitting open and ready beside me on the rock. I touched the tip of it to the eye as Link reloaded his brush, instantly wiping the color from it so that it returned to being blank wood. "You guys better shape up, or you'll be sailing The King of White Lions this weekend."

"He isn't messing up the _whole thing,_" Tetra said thickly through a mouthful of apple as she attacked her lunch. "Just the eye. You've got to hold your brush _steady,_ Link."

"Oh, so now it's me doing everything wrong, is it? And I suppose that you weren't doing anything at all, huh?"

She shrugged. "Just trying to help."

Link rolled his eyes, but smiled vaguely as he turned away from her to the paint cans.

The morning after I had talked to Tetra a couple nights ago, she'd emerged from our room as if nothing had happened at all. The lot of us now seemed to have an unspoken agreement, completely avoiding the matter of the Chichimara and various other uncomfortable subjects. It was easy enough to keep though, as our days were now filled up with the preparation for the Tournament.

I sighed and wiped the spell from my quill, dipped it in the ink bottle, and tried to concentrate on my homework. It was easy stuff; I wrote so fast that my writing got all splotchy and I poked several holes through the parchment and into my leg.

Muu rose majestically from the lake, stretching her long neck as far as it would go, loosening up from her morning slumber. I watched her for a moment, wondering a million different things, and then a tugging on my sleeve brought me to my senses.

Daystar growled beside me, disgruntled; evidently I had spilled my ink on him in my mental absence. I laughed and rubbed his inky fur, oblivious to his protests. With my free hand, I signed in the air, muttering a spell under my breath. The spill reversed itself; every little drop of ink came speeding off his back and into the bottle.

I smiled to myself. Clever trick, that. Saigon knew her stuff.

I watched Daystar roll his eyes and trot off before I became aware of a second tug, this time on my opposite sleeve. La'vi the seagull stood there on my lap, pointing with his beak at a prominent spelling error on my homework.

This came as a bit of a shock.

A bit dazed, I waved La'vi off my knee and crossing the word out, cast the phenomenon aside as a coincidence.

Link, despite Tetra's constant assaults on his paint job, finally finished the repairs of his sailboat, and within an hour or two it was upright and afloat in the lake, looking the closest thing to alive as it bobbed in the deep, dark waters. Muu nudged it curiously with her nose as she dove around, investigating.

"Not bad, not bad!" cried Tetra as the wind picked up. Link smiled and wiped his hands on the hem of his tunic.

"No thanks to _you_, I might add," he laughed, looking over his shoulder at her. He slung his sack of supplies over his shoulder and began picking his way over the rocks on his way back to the Spilled Goblet.

"Hey!" Tetra yelled after him. "I was helping! You just don't appreciate my _type_ of help, you- you… non- appreciator!" She turned to me, grinning, and added, quieter, "He's insane, you know that?"

I sighed and smiled. "Whatever you say, Tetra."

She looked very satisfied with herself.

The rest of the gang was overjoyed with the news of the repaired ship. Even Medli, despite her quiet, calm manner, could hardly contain her happiness- she was trembling with newfound positive energy.

"I- I can't believe it! You'll be able to race! O- on the sea! Magnificently, too!" She said this all very fast. Swirling with ecstasy, she flopped onto a couch and lay there breathing hard and giggling. "Oh, I remember my first ride in a sailboat- that very one, of course, of course- like reliving my first flight again! Oh, the sea and the spray! It was lovely, Anni, wonderful!" With a sigh, she fainted. Link sat down beside her and waved his hand frantically before her face.

"Well, wouldja look at that! I think we've lost her!"

He and I laughed. As he moved Medli's feet onto his lap to give himself more room, he whispered something to Makar, who was sitting on the arm of the couch. Makar let out a soft little_ churr_ of laughter, and Link grinned and looked up at me rather sheepishly.

"What?" I demanded. "What are you saying about me?"

He looked away sharply and shrugged. "Us? Nothing! We're planning- er, discussing the Tournament."

"Well, you could just as easily include me then, now couldn't you?"

His grin grew a little wider. "You? Um, no! That would ruin our, let's say, element of surprise, now wouldn't it?" He winked at Makar.

"_What_? What's that supposed to mean?" I stood up before him, indignant.

Link didn't answer; but he did clap a hand to his head to keep his hat on as a small gale blew through the open window behind me, scattering papers and leaving me considerably ruffled.

"Whoops," he said, the tips of his ears going pink. I stood there utterly stunned. "You understand, it's nervous energy? After all, tonight's the night- y'know, the night before the Tournament?"

I straightened out my hair and sat down, vaguely aware that he was changing the subject. "Yeah. Yeah, I know," I sighed.

He sighed too, and slumped back on the couch so vigorously, Makar was knocked onto the floor. The little Korok rocked there miserably on his round back, stubby legs kicking at the air with no avail. "Tetra's convinced that this is my last night alive. I mean, she's come out of her room, but she's still worried…"

"Honestly, Link, she knows as well as you do that you have to do it, and that's that." I couldn't think of anything else to say; everything I could think of was half-hearted and without much faith. I somehow couldn't quite catch his eye. Wordlessly, Link reached over the edge of the couch and flipped Makar carelessly onto his lap. Hurriedly, I added, "Let's not think about it until it happens, alright? It's the Tournament, for Din's sake, a merry thing; I don't see the point in brooding on it any longer."

Medli murmured, half-conscious. We both grinned slightly, and Link nodded, "Yeah, we'll wait until tomorrow."

Long after everyone had gone to bed, I was sitting on the couch, reading. You'd think sleep would come easy after staying up so late the night before, but despite the burning ring of fatigue around each eye, I was restless.

I jumped as the door opened with a creak, breaking the silence.

Saigon entered with a pile of books on her lap. "I somehow knew you'd be here." She smiled. Rolling past, she thrust a red lacquered box onto the couch beside me. "I think it's time you started it this year."

I paused a moment in my reading. "You don't mean…?" She cocked an ear toward me as she passed, but didn't answer. I put down my book with one hand and felt around for the box with the other. It was absolutely reeking of magic, even vibrating with it. I fumbled for the gold latch, fingers shaking. I knew what it was, of course. I'd seen it a dozen times before. Pulling back the layers of dusty velvet, I revealed a crystal hourglass. Long, slim and sparkling, it lay there, filling the cup of each hand. Beneath the glass on one bulb, separated by thin strips of metal, were four different colors of sand. A white, streaked with pale blue, and a vivid orange were in one half, filling their sections almost to the top. The other two, a sunny yellow and a deep emerald, filled their sections about halfway. A gold mechanism in the center made certain that each color fell separately in each section of the other half, which was empty. Each fell at its own time; white, pink, green, red. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.

Of course, you had to start it early, the day before. Otherwise there wouldn't be a good snow coating the ground by morning. Winter and Fall were the fullest sections because Winter started long before the Tournament, and Fall ended long after. After we woke up, the seasons would seem almost equal. Ingenious, really. And the device had come from long before Saigon's time.

I turned the hourglass so that the empty half was resting on a table and toyed with the switches. After some experimentation, I got one to give, and white sand began to trickle down. I soon realized, after closer inspection, that the sand was imitating tiny snowflakes, floating down and gradually settling at the bottom. I cried out in surprise and released my grip as frost suddenly crackled up the sides and the hourglass grew bitterly cold.

"Oh, yes, you might want to watch out for that magic. It stings."

"Well, _thanks_ for the warning, Sai."

"You're welcome." She laughed, and dumped the books onto her desk with a loud thump. "Now, you know where you're headed tomorrow, of course?"

"Well, yeah," I sighed. "The starting lines, the docks, the fencing grounds, Ariu Alley…"

"Anni, you know where I'm talking about."

I began to massage my forehead, exasperated. "I really don't need this right now Sai. Who _doesn't _know where Chichimara lives anyway? Well, in theory, anyway. The Point of the Graves isn't exactly an easy-to-miss landmark."

"As I recall, it was your _mother's _theory, so I'd treat it with more respect." She rolled out to where I could see her. "I'm not sure if you know this, but your mother... Well, she was one of the reasons that men go to fight the Chichimara instead of the Chichimara coming to fight us."

She looked at me as if expecting a reply, but I gave none. She stared at me emotionlessly with unseeing opal eyes "Anni, there's something I should've told you a long time ago…"

"I know. Chichimara killed my mum. He turned into a storm cloud and just… killed her."

She paused, then nodded. "I thought you might. You heard it yesterday, didn't you? Speaking of which…Where were you and Link last night?"

I looked over at her suddenly. "How..?"

She smiled slightly. "Your door was left open. And I heard you close Link's. You weren't being as quiet as you thought you were, in any case. Besides," and here she laughed fondly, "He joined me for a cup of tea before he went out. I was the one who told him to talk to Muu. Apparently, he's been having trouble sleeping, the poor dear."

I slouched over and leaned my head on my hand. "Well, how well would you sleep if you were going to be violently devoured within the next few days?" I sighed and looked over at her. "He has to, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he has to. And no, he doesn't want to, if that was your next question."

I sighed again. "Why don't we just give Tailo permission to chew on him for a couple nights? Would that work for him?"

"I think you've forgotten the entire purpose of this venture, Anni. It isn't about a monster, it's about a sword. A very special sword." Her fingers fumbled around in her blankets, twisting contemplatively. "But of course, you know all about that, don't you, dear?"

I nodded, remembered she couldn't see me, and answered, "Yeah, Tetra told me."

"Yes. If there is any sword this world over that could fell a beast made from a concoction of magic, shadow, and fear, it would be that one."

"Yeah, I know."

"Now, go to bed, Anni. Or else, bring us up some tea, and _then_ go to bed."

I sighed, marked my book. "Yes, Sai-Sai."

All three of us were thrown dizzily into consciousness the next morning by a brisk gust of freezing wind. That last summer night, we'd left the window open a crack to let in the breezes, but it was no longer necessary.

Medli blinked a frosty rime from her long eyelashes. "What's this?"

Tetra climbed down and flung her head out of the window with so much enthusiasm I was afraid she'd fall right out. "It's… _Snow_!" The word slid off her tongue as if it were a strange and foreign one. I watched her wide blue eyes track each separate snowflake with intense wonder. "It's cold!"

I gathered my blankets around me as I sat up cross-legged and scrutinized them through sleepy eyes. "Yes, yes, it is, close it now, why don't you?" It was in vain. Medli had joined Tetra at the window seat, her pale cheeks already ruddy from the cold. "Don't tell me you've never had snow before."

"Nope," said Tetra, closing the window at last.

"Link's told us about it, though. There was one island where some always falls," Medli mused, sparkly-eyed. "It's impossible- how hot was it last night? The weather here certainly changes quickly."

I flopped backwards onto my bed. "That's Tournament Day for you."

They eventually dragged me out of bed and down to breakfast. Or what Saigon called breakfast, anyway.

"You're going to eat light here today," she said firmly. "You're all going to go stuff your faces out there the moment you leave anyway. Maximum of two rolls each."

Tetra gasped. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Saigon plucked one of Link's rolls off of his plate as she rolled by. "Oh yes, and just one for our young hero. Wouldn't want to weigh him down."

Link's jaw dropped and stayed that way for several minutes.

I laughed. "Don't worry about it, _young hero_." I put my hands on his shoulders playfully. "After your contests, I'll show you where to find some _real_ food."

My'chel chuckled, muffled by the gigantic bundles of pastries he was carrying. "Well, it's not as if _we_ don't have real food _here_, Anni." A bundle started to slip, but he caught it again. "We have our own booth again this year."

I looked up suddenly. "Really? Where?"

"Ariu Alley, of course."

"I hope you're not going to charge kisses instead of rupees again then, My'chel," I laughed. "Last year it took forever to get all the lipstick off of you."

His face went scarlet. "Well, you know me, always trying to fall into a mantrap before Autumn Leaves'."

Lona appeared beside him and bumped him mischeviously with one of the laden fruit baskets that she carried on each hip. "Oh, yes, what a difficult feat for you, Mr. Handsome."

"Well, you can't talk, Lona! You're the one who caught me last year!"

She looked away coyly. "Oh, yes, and if I'm lucky I'll get you this year as well."

I rolled my eyes as they staggered away, immersed in silly teenage love. "She'll catch him again, all right. She always does."

"What's a mantrap?" asked Link between bites. "It sounds dangerous."

"Oh, it's not. Well, I guess you could say it is, but…" I shook my head. "All the teenage girls try to 'catch' a boy of their choice so that they can go to the dance together at Autumn Leaves'. It's for older kids though, so you don't need to worry. Yet." I laughed, "Lona's been catching My'chel for what?- three years?-four years? Well, a long time. She won't fail this year either, I'll bet."

I strode to the coat closet. Its hinges protested loudly at the rude awakening from the sleepy summer days when no one had bothered to visit it. As I began to dig through the coats and heavy furs, sheets of dust rose into the hall, and the moths fluttered away in a frenzy. Behind me, Link and Medli sneezed.

"Sorry," I said, coughing a bit myself, "We don't often open this closet. Even in the winter here in Boulviddar we don't usually need coats." I pulled out a stack of sweaters from the shelves near the bottom and produced a large brown box. "Medli, look through this case and see if you can find a little purse made of black leather.."

"Hey, how 'bout me?" Link peered anxiously into the closet.

"Be patient." I pushed around hangars for a few minutes, trying to find something that would fit him. "Ah, here we go." I lifted out a small, heavy jacket of an earthy red material. It had simple round brass buttons and was lined with grey rabbit fur. It also had loops for a belt so that the cold air couldn't come in under the hem. Smiling , I beat the dust out of it and held it up to Link's shoulders to see how long it was. "Perfect! Now, try it on."

He obligingly slid it on over his slight frame. He adjusted his sleeve, a bit uncomfortable with all eyes on him. "It's very comfy, but quite hot."

"Well, it's quite _cold _outside, so that should suit you just fine," I laughed. "Now let me find something for me." After some scrounging around, I found the trench coat I had worn last year, which was of a soft material the color of old ivory. I tried to put it on, but found that it was now too small for me. "Aww, Din, I loved this coat…"

Tetra slipped in from the kitchen, accompanied by Komali, Makar, and a number of her pirates. "Hey, Link, whatcha wearin' a jacket for?"

"He's trying it on to see if it fits him. And it does." Biting my lip, I held my old coat up and looked it over sadly. "Why don't you take this one, Tetra, and see how it feels."

"Awright, don't mind if I do." She took it delicately from me, feeling the fabric; she slipped it on and stepped before the dirty old mirror that was mounted in the closet door. Vainly, she twisted and turned, laughed, and said "Yeah, this one suits me just fine."

"Glad you like it," I replied with a halfhearted smile.

"Hey, what about us?" asked Komali.

"Yes, surely we get coats too. You certainly can't think our down's all we need to keep us warm in a blizzard," added Medli.

"Hey, don't forget about _us, _either, yeah?" chided Gonzo with a playful punch on the shoulder that nearly knocked me over.

I laughed. "Well, hold it there. Let me find Link something else first, and then you guys can check out the closet yourselves."

I turned to straighten Link's collar, then returned to the closet. Pushing away a few heavy coats, I felt around in the back until I found a pair of grey rabbit skin mittens that looked suitably warm. I took them into the light where I could see them better. Perfect. Smiling down at them, I strode over to Link and handed them to him. "Here, try these on."

He obliged. "Wow, these are soft!" he exclaimed, wriggling his fingers.

"Yeah, I know," I beamed. I turned to Medli, who was wearing a pale green jacket and engaged in tying a blue scarf around her neck. "Hey, Med, did you find that purse I asked you for?"

"Oh!" She let the scarf drop and looked back and forth, trying to find where she'd placed it. It fell off her lap and hit the floor, a couple spools of thread rolling out. I was on the ground picking everything up before another sound could leave her mouth.

"Thanks, Medli." I found a needle in the purse and inspected it. Tied into its eye were eight little threads, one for each color of the rainbow and then a black one. I nodded to her in thanks, then turned to Link again.

He eyed it curiously. "What's that for?"

I raised my eyebrows mysteriously. "I'll show you. Here, put out your arm." Obligingly, he placed his left arm on table. I took a grey patch from the purse and placed it on the sleeve of his coat, then delicately tapped it in the middle with the eye end of the needle. The patch gently curved and stuck itself onto the jacket, its frayed edges weaving and knotting with the fibers of the heavy red cloth.

Amazed, Link raised his arm and inspected it. "That's amazing." His brow furrowed. "But what is it for?"

I placed the needle on the table and spread the contents of the purse onto the table. "We're going to put a symbol of some kind on this patch, and also draw one on the back of your hand. Then I'm going to put a couple on everyone else. All the other competitors and their families'll have them too." I smiled. "It's supposed to show who we're rooting for."

"Oh, I see." He paused. "Whatcha going to put on it?"

I raised the needle halfway, then paused. "I'm not sure. What do you think?"

"The Triforce," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully. "But with something green on it, for luck of course." He winked, imitating Tetra. We laughed.

I thought it over a moment and nodded. "Okay, let me try." Deftly, I pulled the green thread on the needle, then touched the eye of it to the patch. Instantly, the color flowed through it, changing it to green. Then I pulled the yellow thread and sketched in the outline of a Triforce. Each time I closed a triangle, the empty space inside filled in with fine yellow embroidery, as if I had done it by hand. Finished, I paused to inspect my work. Satisfied, I smiled. "Does that work?"

Link raised his arm and goggled at it upside down. "Wow! Yeah, it's perfect!"

I stroked the needle three times across my sleeve and smiled. "Great, now take off your mitten and I'll draw it on the back of your hand." While he wriggled out of his gloves, I took a small set of pigments from the pouch. Carefully, I chose a brush and blew the old powder off of it. "They'll do more of this at your contests," I explained as I brushed on the design. "You'll have a big one across your back for the first two, and they'll put one on your sail later."

Link nodded, locking eyes with the Rito, who were behind me. "Well, you better start on everyone else now," he laughed, pulling on his mitten with his teeth as he pointed at them. "There's a lot to do!"

"Oh, yeah." Sheepishly I turned to Komali, who was in black with white lining, to repeat the process with him.

In maybe ten minutes of me working as fast as I could, I got everyone marked and ready for the big day. We had finally congregated around the door. The islanders looked a bit hesitant about what lay beyond it. "C'mon guys, it's all right." With a shove, I managed to push it open against the frigid wind. Smiling, I took the first few steps outside.

The Tournament illusion had been cast perfectly. The ground was a blanket of crisp, clean, white; soft, and for the most part, completely without footprints. The sky was a deep slate blue, and the world was so dark it seemed almost as if it were nighttime, even though it was well past nine-o'-clock. The sun peered reluctantly over the hills, gathering close its robes of rose and peach, and the sky was made complete with a clever imitation of the Northern Lights, which illuminated everything with shifting greens, yellows, and reds. The empty trees raised their skeletal fingers high into the air. In the distance, there were sounds of music and busy crowds drifting around.

Tetra looked like she was going to faint in awe. I grabbed her shoulder to support her, and grinned. "Isn't it amazing?"

"Yes," she breathed. She gathered her coat around herself to keep out the bitter cold.

"I've never seen such a beautiful sky!" Medli remarked, stepping off the porch to get a better look. Soon she was up to her shins in snow. She cocked her head, looking down. "Well, isn't that odd?"

I got the impression that Link was the only one who had ever seen snow before. He took Komali by the shoulder and dragged him backwards off into a deep snow bank. "Isn't this great?" he laughed, halfway buried.

"Lovely," muttered Komali, getting to his feet and shaking out the feathers he had lovingly combed all morning. Link grinned, then bent to pick some snow up. "Hey, Tetra, think fast!"

"Wha…?"A ball of slush spattered across her shoulder. Her eyes widened, shocked, then narrowed, slowly, dangerously. "Oh, you're gonna pay! C'mon, guys!" She and her pirates plowed into the snow. She paused, then carefully lifted some, looked it over in her hands, and then gave Link her trademark you're-in-trouble wink. Each pirate took a handful as well.

Link made a little squeak, tried to run away, and fell face-first into the deep snow.

Tetra opened her mouth to shout an order- and then just cracked up. The pieces of snowball slipped, forgotten, from her mitts, and it was all Gonzo could do to keep her from falling over backward in her spasms of laughter.

Link pushed himself up, spat out the slush that had gotten into his mouth, and grinned up at Tetra. He seemed happy to have made her smile. His nose had become bright pink, and it was hard to tell whether this was from embarrassment or from the cold.

Suddenly, Komali sprinted by, pelting Link in the back of the head as he passed. "HA! There you go, that's payback for pushing me into this stuff!"

Medli winked at me, and I nodded. I took a position beside her. She and I both ducked down to pick up handfuls of snow. Shifting hers in her hands experimentally, she stood between Link and Komali and beamed. "Now, Komali, where'd your sense of honor go? Surely you know not to hit someone while they're down?"

His feathers bristled nervously. "Hey, what?"

We bombarded him with snow. She hit him in the stomach, and I hit him in the shoulder, and we both laughed so hard we had to support each other to stay up.

He folded his arms in a very disciplined fashion and stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "Oh, so that's how it's going to be, eh?" He flashed us a grin before he knelt down for more ammo. Goddesses, he was fast! Medli and I screamed and ran off, and Link, who had just stood up, had to duck down quickly to avoid getting nailed again in the face. Link's expression contorted into a dangerous smirk, and he crouched. He and Komali stared each other down. The Prince casually tossed and caught a snowball. Link dug his fingers into the snow threateningly.

Before Komali even got his arm raised to throw, Link had launched himself at him from the side and knocked him over- then got up and scuttled away as if he had just lit a firework.

Disgruntled, Komali sat up cross-legged in the snow, his arms folded. Medli couldn't help but giggle at his frosty demeanor. He shook his head, rolling his eyes good- naturedly. He threw up his hands in exasperation. "Alright, alright, I surrender! Let's call it a truce from now on! Just don't tackle me again!" He held out his hand, and Link hesitantly reappeared from behind Medli and me. They shook on it, laughing all the while.

Medli approached and hugged Komali from behind. "See, there's the honorable Prince we know and love." I knew for sure that was a genuine blush behind his beak.

While I was occupied, Tetra took the opportunity to nail me in the small of the back. "Wha?" I took Link by the shoulders and slid him around in front of me. "Hey, T, I wouldn't try that again. I got a short Hylian boy, and I'm not afraid to use 'im!" Behind me, the Rito laughed.

"Hey, I'm not that short!" he protested, looking up at me before turning his eyes to the grinning pirate and her crew. They all still held snowballs. "Whoa, Anni, you're not planning on using me as a shield, are you?" he asked nervously.

I looked up at the ridiculous amount of ammo aimed at us. "Uh… It's a strong possibility."

"Hey!" He slid one of his thumbs underneath his belt. "I'm a weapon, not armor!"

I smirked, crouching to get a few handfuls of snow. "Suit yourself then, Link."

He picked up some slush as well. "Gladly," he replied, grinning, raising two handfuls of ammo threateningly just beyond the tips of his ears.

Tetra's smirk twitched slightly at the edges.

All of us let loose at the same time. I was hit at least four times as I flung both snowballs towards the enemy, not able to see where they landed. Link unexpectedly slid towards them, first hitting Nudge in the cheek, then pelting Mako in the back, and finally throwing Niko into the snow. On his way down, Link grabbed Tetra's wrist, bringing her with him into a frosty heap.

After much thrashing of limbs and feet crunching, Link and Tetra both sighed, laying spread-eagled in the snow, absolutely covered in the icy stuff. I had never seen anyone looking more defeated than I saw Tetra now. Her eyes were closed, her brows furrowed, a frosty rime melting softly on her pink lips. Every once and a while, her nostrils would flare with a sigh. Link sat up, curious, and lifted her arm. Then he let it fall limply back into the snow. He turned and gave me a thumbs up.

Then, his eyes widened and an electric jolt seemed to shoot through his body. While he had had his back turned, Tetra had dumped a handful of ice down his shirt. She was now laughing her head off as Link shuddered and squirmed, making faces.

I laughed, and consulted one of the clocks that had been put up for Tournament Day. Ten-forty-five. "Hey, guys, we'd better stop goofing off. You do realize we have to get Link to his race, right?"

"Yeah, Tetra," Link groaned, rolling his eyes. He pulled her to her feet. She was still fighting to keep down a grin. She began violently rubbing Link's back. "Ah! Stop it…!"

"I'm trying to warm you up," she laughed.

"No, you're not. Get away!" He shoved her playfully.

Medli folded her arms across her chest. "Do I have to separate you two?" Komali and I tried not to snigger as the two goofballs blushed.

We called up the horses and started on the road into town. The ice had covered everything, including the rivers and canals, rendering the gondolas useless. We had to go on foot, using the land route which was rarely used. The horses were gloomy and sluggish, picking their way hesitantly across the sea of snow- that is, besides Epona, who pulled ahead spiritedly, her hot breath rising in puffs from her flared nostrils.

As we pulled ever closer to the hills just outside of town where the races were to be taking place, the stark surroundings gradually gave way to muddy, heavily trodden slush and colorful banners which swayed in the wind like the skirts of dancers. Small tents began to pop up everywhere. It was rather difficult to keep Link away from the delicate allure of the warm, rich, burnt-sugar aromas that wafted out of the small businesses.

Everywhere there was a fantastic jumble of color and commerce. Families set up shops, waving the insignias of their boys high in the air and wearing it on all their clothing, cooking warm food and serving tankards of spicy wassail, selling masks or strings of jewelry, singing together, or just sitting around a merry fire to wait for the next season. Girls gossiped and braided each other's hair. Boys stood around in their jackets and masks, trying to look impressive while their mothers fussed over them. The world was given soft illumination from lanterns and torches hung up everywhere.

And the sounds! A phantasmagoria of pure high pipes and singing violins, harps and fire crackling, singing and sighing, barkers calling out and scolding and beads rattling, and all the other market sounds that made a sort of music as it rose into the whistling winds of the strange shifting sky. In the distance, people cheered and hissed as they watched the races run by.

"I've never seen so many people in one place!" Link exclaimed, sitting as tall on his horse as he could, trying to peer over the tops of the tents and heads of the crowd. Most passersby didn't notice the odd ears of the New Hylians, or even the beaks and feathers of the Rito. However, I wasn't really surprised. Strange people showed up on Tournament Day. You saw many an odd folk with locks of yellow or red poking out from beneath their caps sneaking around and playing music for small amounts of Rupees. Sometimes, there were people who were nine feet tall, or unnaturally thin, or had strange pointed noses and queer skin tones beneath the hoods they peered from under.

The Tournament Moon attracted folks of all sorts into its light.

As we approached the competition grounds, this entire merry atmosphere suddenly changed. A woman stood in front of a shop, calling out to customers alongside her husband. The moment she saw us, she seemed to choke on her words, and her eyes widened. The burly man beside her glared at us before taking her under his arm and pulling her into the tent.

We strode on. I realized similar things were happening all around us. People whispered. Mothers dragged their children out of the shadows of the horses. Groups of boys who stood around flashing their prizes immediately lost their composure and scattered as we passed. We were given a wide berth, to say the least. Link seemed unaffected, still dazzled by the newness of everything; but his friends began to realize something was wrong.

"Same to you, Jerkface," Tetra snarled, making a rude face at a small glowering child.

Medli looked as if she were trying to hide her face. The feathers at her wrists bristled with tension, and her restless fingers picked at the lining of her coat. Komali rode close enough to put a hand on her shoulder to console her. As I looked around, I began to feel a deep foreboding rise in my chest. We would have to be careful.

At long last, we finally arrived at the gates to the competition. A man appeared immediately to take our horses. He grabbed the passes I held out to him without a word or even a glance, before ushering us violently on through to the registration booth. I caught up to Link and handed him the Keaton mask from my backpack. "You'll need to wear this during the competitions, kid," I reminded him, punching him playfully in the shoulder.

"Awright," he nodded, sliding it on over his elfin features. His eyes sparkled through the slits. "Now no one will recognize me!" he declared, laughing and goggling around at his friends.

"I wouldn't be so sure," I murmured, as a man walked briskly by, giving us a grim look as he passed. "Well, c'mon, then. Your race is starts in, like-" I consulted a clock, "-Fifteen minutes." I led him up to the registration desk.

The bespectacled man that sat there was fast asleep. Mounds of paperwork surrounded him, all piled with various paperweights to keep them from floating away in the winter wind. We waited a few moments, watching him snore.

"Uhhh….?" Tetra said, raising an eyebrow.

"He's asleep…" Link murmured in disbelief.

"Let's _poke_ him!" Tetra suggested, rubbing her fingers together devilishly.

Medli shrugged and donated a feather. Tetra took it between her fingers- we had to convince her to use the soft end instead of the quill- and ran it back and forth along the plump man's sizeable moustache until…

"AAACHOIIII!" the man sneezed loudly into a deftly positioned handkerchief. Tetra dropped the feather immediately and put her hands innocently behind her back. He blinked several times, adjusted his spectacles, and cleared his throat noisily before finally squinting down at us. He scanned each one of us absently. However, his tiny eyes almost opened when he saw Link.

"Good heavens!" he exclaimed in a rather irritatingly nasal voice before sneezing again. He hefted himself up and thrust his face over the desk to scrutinize Link nearsightedly. The boy leaned back and nearly fell over backwards. "Good heavens indeed! Hmmmm…" He cleared his throat again. "Take off your mittens and hold up your hands, son."

Link, very much at a loss, obliged, raising up his palms.

"Turn them," the secretary continued, adjusting his glasses contemplatively. Link showed him the Triforce on the back of his left hand, and the bare surface of his right. The man coughed into his handkerchief with one hand, and gestured in a circle with the other as he wheezed, "Turn around now, son, let me look you over." Link obliged again.

The man's eyebrow's furrowed as he wiped his nose contemplatively. "I guess you're clean," he muttered. "Hmmmm. You _are_ wearing a different mask…" He shook himself. "I apologize, son. You see," he sneezed, "There's been a lot of hype this morning, mmyes. Apparently, some kid in a green cap like yours went crazy and mauled several of his opponents during his race." He went into a coughing fit that lasted a minute or two. "No one could really tell, but they say he was either using a short blade or his fingers… Hem, nearly killed a few of them. Naturally, hands would be covered in blood." He adjusted his glasses. "I'm assuming he disappeared somehow before the judges could get a hold of him, mmyes."

"Man, that doesn't sound good," I murmured. Chichimara. It had to be. Maybe if we were in luck, he was long gone…

The man shook himself again. "Well, anyway, I'm assuming you're here to register, hm?" He picked up a few forms and placed them on the table along with a quill. "I shall need you to sign these on the dotted line… Good, yes." He put the forms underneath a paperweight, covering his mouth as he wheezed again. "Now, all I need is your patch, and you're good to go, mmyes." I produced a copy of the Triforce patch we all bore on our left arms, which he took with his handkerchief hand. "Thank you muchly, little lady. Now, turn, son." He touched it with a silver knitting needle he had on his desk, then touched Link's coat with it. A large copy of the patch spread across his back. He then touched the tent wall, and a copy of the patch appeared to be displayed there with all the other insignias of contestants entered in the Tournament. He returned the patch. "Thank you," he wheezed, "Good luck."

Link nodded his thanks just as the bugles sounded in the distance.

"Goddesses, we only have five minutes! C'mon!" I took Link by the arm and ran as fast as I could towards the starting line. I hesitated as we approached the crowd of thirty-some boys milling around. "Er, uh, I guess I leave you here."

He nodded enthusiastically. "Wish me luck!" he called, beginning to walk into the crowd.

I grabbed him by the shoulder. "Whoops, I almost forgot." It had almost slipped my mind. Hardly thinking, I pulled the mask gently away from his face and kissed the warm cheek beneath. He inhaled sharply and tensed with surprise, and even as I drew away the skin began to sizzle with heat. The tips of his ears began to burn bright pink. "Good luck, Link."

"Er… Uh, thanks…?" he managed, dazedly reaching up to rub the cheek of his mask before stumbling off disjointedly to mingle with the other boys.

When he was out of sight, Tetra kicked me viciously in the shin.

"OW! What was that for?" I cried, fighting valiantly to balance on one foot before falling onto my backside.

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, my foot slipped." Medli stifled a giggle. The pirate folded her arms across her chest, not looking at me. "What was that?"

"Tradition." I spat, rubbing my leg.

"Tradition, my foot." she growled. "And I suppose that's meant to warm him up, is it?"

I bit my lip against the pain, only just managing, "That's one of the theories, yes."

"And you didn't give the poor kid any warning. May I ask why?"

I grit my teeth, reaching up the leg of my pants to check for swelling. "I've only just remembered, you see?"

She nodded sarcastically. "Sure, we know you're just so conveniently forgetful…"

"Well, I'm very sorry Tetra!" I said ultra- sweetly. "I had no way of knowing you wanted to be the one to send him off with the _long, ancient tradition _of my people. My mistake!"

She said nothing, only blushed. Medli and Makar began to snicker, and Komali was struggling to fight down a grin. She whirled around and glared at them. "Hey, what's so funny?"

Komali focused his eyes up at the Lights, while Medli put her hands innocently behind her back and swayed back and forth in her boots. I laughed. It was mutually understood that we had caught on to Tetra, and the pirate shifted awkwardly in the snow before finally muttering, "Let's ditch this joint. The thing's probably going to start any minute."

"It's a plan, Tetra," I grinned, winking as I walked beside her. Then, I added softly, still half-chuckling, "I'll let you do it next year."

She looked like she wanted to sock me in the face, but didn't, either out of self-control, or the exaggerated faces and gestures Nudge was wildly making at her. My bet's on the latter. "Poor kid's so love-drunk, he'll probably trip over his own feet…" I heard her mutter through her teeth to herself.

Somehow, we managed to push ourselves through the crowd of spectators until we were near the front and had a clear view of the valley where the races took place. The trail was beaten flat by hundreds of boots already, so this race would have it easy. From here, you could see how the track twisted and turned up and around hills, using what was an old cow path in the summers and falls. Really, you could only see about half of the race here; later on, most spectators ran or rode to the second spot set off for crowds, which was just over a snowy hill spotted with trees that lay to the west.

I turned my eyes to the starting line, trying to pick out Link. Finally, I found a flash of red and yellow, just behind a burly-looking older boy in blue. "There he is!" I told them, handing Tetra a telescope, and pointing him out to the rest.

Tetra blinked, adjusting the lens. "That bloke there's picking his nose with his gloves on."

Komali narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to watch Link, or what? Because I wouldn't mind taking that telescope off your hands if you're not."

"Okay, okay, I'm going. Don't get yer feathers all tied up in a knot." She quickly redirected her scope elsewhere.

Komali nodded his consent as dignified-looking as he could with Makar balanced precariously on his head.

The race was about to start. A man in the gold trim and bright blue garb of a Tournament official was pacing back and forth in front of the boys, telling them all the rules. The combination of the distance and the crowd's noises hindered us from hearing what he said, but you could tell from his flailing gestures and erect posture that he was being very serious with them. Finally, after a few minutes, he was called off, and he sprinted to the edge again so the race could begin. Some of the boys touched the ground, preparing to run; others just leaned forward looking awkward but ready.

Everyone went silent as the official raised a pistol into the air, and then-

BOOM!

They were off!

There was a sound like thunder as a hundred feet beat into the hard snow, and the stampede of boys lurched forward like a bunch of wild horses. Immediately some were left behind, and some darted ahead; sometimes the outcome of the entire race relied on those first few moments. I was pleased to see that Link was somewhere towards the front, though he still had a distance to go before he would be tasting first prize. Several of his adversaries were tireless and ran effortlessly with the gait of a gazelle- yet, occasionally one or two lost their initial endurance and began to drag behind.

The crowd really began their noise-making when the race hit the first hill, and the tides changed. Some of the boys who possessed wonderful speed did not possess the strength to quickly ascend the icy slope, and they fell back while the stronger ones forced themselves ahead. The spectators collectively cheered, booed, hissed, screamed, whistled, a dysfunctional symphony of human noise, under-toned by the deepness of murmurs and gossip and groans. Medli and I were jumping up and down, crying out at the tops of our lungs in the desperate hopes that Link would hear us as he slowly but forcefully fought his way ever closer to the front. Tetra and Komali rocked back and forth on the wood barrier, and the pirates joined in their loud obnoxious chant, "Kill them! Kill them!" which was getting very odd glances from the people around them. Several of the spectators decided to give us a few extra feet on all sides after that.

Then the race reached the problem of going down the steep hill. Many stopped and hesitated at the top. Some started running for it and tripped around on the slippery snow. But a few had prepared for this sort of thing.

One boy, who had been dragging behind because of the weight, took a large piece of wood from his back and thrust it into the snow, using it to zip quickly downhill. A select few others did the similar; one on a shovel, one on a large piece of thinly pounded metal, and even a third who actually took off his coat and slid down on it.

"Heeeyyy!" said Tetra. "That's not fair! They can't do that."

I smiled. "Oh, they can. The rules say they can bring anything they want as long as they don't hurt anyone with it." Nodding, I turned my eyes again to the race.

Link paused for a moment at the top of the hill like the rest, then watched a couple of the sliders with interest. He took his overlarge shield from his back, inspected it, then backed up a few steps experimentally.

Then, he suddenly bolted forward, throwing the shield down before him. The smooth metal surface slid across the ice like a hot knife through butter, zipping along at incredible speed. It took him a few moments to figure out how to control the thing, which wove back and forth as it went, but when he did, he managed to pass up a few more people, even a couple of those who had brought things to slide on.

At the bottom of the hill, he jumped from the shield and replaced it swiftly on his back as he hit the ground running.

Komali hit Tetra in the shoulder. "And you're always going on about how dull Link is! Seems to me he's been catching on rather quickly these days."

"Eh, that out there wasn't smarts, that was imitation, Bird Boy," she countered, rolling her eyes.

Komali looked as if he were considering a witty comeback involving the kiss earlier, but made himself refrain. Even so, Tetra knew a risky situation when she saw one, and reluctantly pulled herself out of the argument. The Rito prince took the hint and did the same.

The race went on for a few more minutes, up and down the hills in a similar fashion, the running order shifting unpredictably, but Link steadfastly keeping his place toward the front. Finally, Medli stood as tall as she could on the barrier, shielding her eyes. "Goddesses, I can hardly see them anymore."

I looked after the race too, and saw that they were now climbing the crest of the fourth hill, which led them almost out of sight. I rubbed the back of my head. "I guess we should be going to the second point now." Sure enough, parts of the crowd were already beginning to disperse to head up the path. I nodded to the rest, and we joined them.

A few steps up the slope, Komali handed me Makar. "What's this?" I said, gently receiving the creature, wrapping him in my scarf and cuddling him in my arms. Komali cocked his head and smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

"I was thinking I would take a quick wing overhead, you know, get a better look, give Link my encouragements- if that's okay, of course." He raised a white eyebrow in question as he flicked out his feathers.

I put my palm over the leaf on Makar's head, worried that the cold would be taking its toll on the little guy. Trying to recall the rules, I nodded. "I guess that would be okay, as long as you don't fly too low. They would probably get after you for that."

He rubbed the side of his beak smugly with his thumb, nodding at me and Medli. "No problem," he said, pocketing his gloves before leaping into the air. "Wouldn't want to frighten off the young doves too much, eh?" he laughed spiritedly, as he glided skillfully down into the Tournament valley with hardly a flick of the wing.

Medli smiled fondly after him, rubbing her delicate gloved fingers together. "Never met a boy as proud of his plummels as that one."

When we reached the top of the hill, Tetra paused and gave the landscape one more pass over through the lens of the telescope. She laughed, suddenly, pointing. "I bet that boy there hasn't ever seen a bird that big before." Sure enough, one of the kids near the back happened to run through the huge shadow Komali cast on the ground, and while he was looking up to find the source of it, was unfortunate enough to trip over a lump of snow. The prince showed a bit more discretion after that, being extra careful to fly just off to the side so as not to bother the competitors. I took one more moment to admire and envy the ease at which he rode the wintry winds before I continued down the hill after the others.

The second point was deep down in the valley, just in front of the place where the boys would break through the finishing line. Maybe three yards away from it laid the icy bank of a frozen river which snaked through the hills. The competitors would all have to cross the wide expanse to get to the finish.

I looked up to relocate Link before glancing at a clock. "Hm. Sort of running late."

"What do you mean?" asked the muffled voice of Makar.

"Spring will be here any minute," I murmured. "The race'll be a muddy mess unless they finish soon."

I glanced up. Link was really pulling through. There only were five boys in front of him now.

Komali landed swiftly off to the side of the point, and then ran out to meet us. "I'm back!" he breathed, flipping on his gloves as he turned his eye to watch with us. Not one person in the crowd even noticed, being too caught up in the competition to care. Strangely, they were all going silent, tense.

"Shh, there he is," whispered Medli, as the group ascended the last hill.

Link pulled off his shield and leaped off of the side. Now good at this sledding, he zipped past the first of his opponents, then was slipping along, neck and neck with the next, who was sledding on a large sheet of wood. The other boy reached a rough point on the hill, which slowed him down, and Link was quick to avoid the same fate, darting ahead.

Only three left to go! He leaped from the slope and hit the ground in a sprint, as if he had been saving his real speed up until the end, which was a broad flat stretch. The strangely- masked boy in third puffed along as quickly as he could, trying to maintain his position, but didn't have enough stamina to continue the dash, and was soon left behind.

Two to go! They were evenly matched now, and it was difficult to say for sure who would take first, since the odds were continuously changing.

A mother screamed out a chant of approval, and the crowd suddenly broke its silence, bursting into bellows and hurrahs once more. I was surprised and pleased to hear that some of them had taken up cheering for our own unknown hero, nicknaming him Keaton, and holding their own in the great screaming contest between the fans of the three boys competing for first. We joined them with our own cries, first with the aggressive chant the pirates bellowed, then the clapping and yelling that Medli particularly favored.

Soon the three of them approached the river. However, strangely enough, the older bird- masked boy who was currently in first suddenly stopped and hesitated at the edge. Link, watching him, did the same, but the third ploughed forward onto the surface of the ice.

Tetra was furious. "HEY! C'mon, Link, CHASE THAT KID DOWN!" I put a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down.

"Don't you see?" I murmured. "Something's wrong."

The small boy on the river was booking it across nimbly, getting ever closer to the center, when suddenly-

CRACK!

The ice broke with a sound like a thousand lightening bolts penetrating the sky. And, indeed, the sky split open. In a matter of seconds, the Northern Lights and the dusky clouds were replaced with a clear blue horizon, and a white diamond of a sun. A warm wind gust through the valley, and the boy cried out as he fell through the ice and was swallowed by the waves beneath. But even as he flailed in the water, the ice disintegrated within a matter of seconds, and the current began to take him downstream.

The snow melted, and everyone groaned as the slush fell from the trees to land on their heads. The grass rose, simple and green and studded with flowers, and the trees burst out into pink and white blossoms. Spring was here. But no one was interested. Usually, families would be staking claims on the cherry trees so they could use the fruit in the summer, shedding their coats and picking flowers, slipping around on the mud; but no one so much as removed his gloves. Boys who had been running the race began to gather at the shore beside the bird-masked boy. All eyes were trying to follow the drowning boy.

Link shoved his shield into the hands of the bird- masked boy, threw aside his boots, hat, and mask, and then dove into the river after the kid. He disappeared beneath its shimmering surface for a moment, then reappeared a few feet away, struggling to keep his head above the water as he reached to help the boy, who was starting to go under. Suddenly, there was a change in the strength of the current and the two of them disappeared.

The crowd gasped.

Tetra fidgeted. "C'mon, buddy, c'mon!"

The Rito feathers bristled as if with a static charge, and even a shiver rose through me and the Korok.

There was a moment's pause that seemed to last an eternity of breath, sweat, tension.

Then the surface of the water broke just a bit downstream, and Link appeared, helping the boy along on his shoulder. The crowd was silent as they walked slowly along the edge of the river where the current was weaker, up to their necks in water. Occasionally he lost his footing and drifted a while, then regained it and continued on. Finally, he found his way onto the shore, sliding into the wet grass and stumbling forward, half carrying the kid.

The crowd cheered again, with so much vigor some had to clap hands over their ears. A woman, who I assumed was the kid's mother, burst out in tears of joy.

The two boys were numb. A few feet away from the finish line, they both fell to the ground. The kid nodded sleepily, half-conscious.

Delicately, Link took the kid's hand in his, and with one final thrust, forced it across the finish line.

It was a perfect tie.

Link rolled over on his back as the officials ran out to make sure they were all right.

After a few moments of watching them scamper around doing nothing, I couldn't take it anymore, so I jumped the barrier, and many others followed to get a closer look. Link sat up as he saw us coming, wobbling a little, but the kid just lay there breathing on the ground.

"Hey, are you all right, boy?" yelled Tetra, punching him in the shoulder.

"We were so worried about you!" cried Medli, giving him a great big hug that knocked him over. Then, with a jolt, she sat up, gesturing as if she were dusting herself off. "Goddesses, you're all wet!"

He raised his eyebrows, amused. "Why yes, I reckon I did just take a plunge in the water there." He laughed, but the way he was shivering worried me. "I'm alright. I'm just worried about that one, there." He gestured to his companion.

The officials tried to revive him with little luck. His mother sat on the ground and put his head on her lap, removing the purple mask to peer at his delicate features through her long straight sheet of black hair. As another official shoved his way through, he passed Link a pair of prize badges. "One of those is yours, and one is his, if we can get him woke up, that is." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But, we weren't really prepared for a tie, you know, and, well…"

"Didn't have the right medals?" finished Link calmly.

"Well…. Yeah." The young official shook his head apologetically. "We don't have you in the books yet for any prizes, so technically, they can go to anyone." He smiled, "but we at the table all agree that you deserve the first." He affirmed this with a solid nod. "Nice work out there, lad."

Link smiled and nodded back as the official left. Carefully, he scooted a bit closer to the kid, then pocketed one of the medals. The other, he dangled just above the boy's forehead. He poked the kid in the temple a couple of times, saying softly, "Hey, you. You! Wake up!"

Finally, the boy opened his eyes. "Wha? A medal?"

"Yeah." Link grinned. "First place, all yours."

The boy sat up suddenly, taking the medal. "Huh? Wait, I didn't- No, I can't take this." He looked confused. "Why, you can swim- you rescued me, didn't you? No, no, I can't take this." He shoved it back into Link's hand.

"No," Link said softly. "I want you to have it. The goddesses know you would've beaten me if it hadn't been for that bad luck, and fair's fair."

After a bit more arguing, Link finally got the boy to take the first place medal.

The boy took it in his hands and admired it, then bowed his head. "Well, thank you, I guess. I owe you my life."

The kid's mother thanked him as well, rather more aggressively. "Oh, thank the goddesses for sending this little spirit to save my boy!" she cried, embracing him. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"MOOOM!" sighed the boy with utter disgust.

Link shrugged good- naturedly, which did nothing to hide the blush flourishing across his face. I smirked- I could almost see the torture that was burning in Tetra.

"Yo, kid." Someone tapped Link's shoulder. Turning, we saw the bird- masked boy who had come in third. He, along with the other competitors, had finally been ferried across the river. Under his arm, he carried Link's stuff. He cocked his head. "You're the craziest kid I've ever seen, and I've seen some strange'uns. Just crazy." He nodded in a sort of approval, and handed Link his things.

"Thanks!" Link called out to the boy as he withdrew.

"No prob, kid," laughed the guy, who raised both hands in a pointing gesture. "Anytime you're pulling your stunts, I'm there!" He threw back his head and laughed some more, and was eventually swallowed by the crowd.

I whispered an incantation, and all the water in Link's clothes disappeared in a puff of steam. Thanking me, he slid on his boots and hat, then took out the second place medal to look at for a moment.

Tetra sat down next to him. "You could've taken the first, you know."

He nodded. "Yeah, I could've. But it wasn't really mine- and besides," he laughed, raising it up, "I like this one better." The second place medal was a small disk of silver tied to a brilliant emerald ribbon, which shone in a way not unlike his sparkling eyes.

After we had laughed with Link for a moment, Komali put in a good observation. "Hey, guys, doesn't it feel a bit hot out here to you?"

I blushed. "Er, yeah, I guess we should probably take off our coats now." With so much going on, no one had really adjusted to the warmer temperatures of springtime yet. Sheepishly, we all shed our winter garments and placed them in the magically- expanding pack I had brought along. We began to talk as we made our way off the grounds, eager to talk about the race.

"Oh, Link, there was this kid behind you, I was sure he would pass you up, but…" rambled Medli.

"Fantastic, just rocking from above, you know," exclaimed Komali.

"Never doubted you for an instant, kid," proclaimed Tetra, polishing her nails on the front of her vest.

I laughed and listened along with the rest- that is, until I saw a clock. "Din, Nayru, Farore!" I cursed.

"What?" asked Niko.

"We're going to be late for Link's next competition, don't you see? We've got ten minutes to get him to town and ready!"

Link paled. "Are you serious?"

I grabbed his arm and started to run. "Dead serious. I did warn you, you know."

"Yes, but," he put a hand on his stomach sheepishly. "I was really hoping we could get something to eat, what with that small breakfast and all…"

I ploughed on. "No time, sorry."

"Awwww! Not even something small?" he insisted. "I'm exhausted, you know."

I shook my head. "Really, you don't want to be late, trust me. You're going to have to tell your stomach to wait. It's going to be a while."

"Awwww, man!" he whined, as I half- dragged him toward the city.

We would soon find out that food was the least of our worries.


End file.
